An article in The Sacramento Bee tells of the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove's decision to stop using busses owned and operated by the government-run Regional Transit in favour of a private enterprise.
According to the article,
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
[A consultant] confirmed the city's suspicions last year. He said Elk Grove contributed nearly $15.7 million between 2000 and 2002 but received only about $6.8 million in bus services within the city's boundaries, an $8.9 million gap.
RT officials disputed the amount, saying it's inflated by nearly $3 million. Besides, officials say, the additional money helps fund shuttles, buses and light-rail trains that serve everyone in the region, including Elk Grove residents.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
(emphasis added)
The two counterpoints expressed by the state-run RT are simply breathtaking. First, it pooh-poohs on the overcharging on the basis that the figures are inflated by $ 3 million -- while ignoring the fact that even if this is true, they are still soaking the municpal government for nearly six million dollars per year. If a private company were to be found to have overcharged a government (or even a group of consumers) through some price fixing or other scheme to the tune of mid-seven figures the ensuing scandal would bring down the rafters -- yet state-run enterprises are historically and almost universally so badly-managed that it doesn't even seem to occur to anyone that to ripped off by such an enterprise is something about which one should get worked up at all.
Second, the argument that a great deal of the money Elk Grove is overcharged goes towards other services Elk Grove does not want, but from which the city benefits to some extent, and therefore the charges are justified, highlights what is perhaps the biggest problem with all government programs, from the most simple to grand scale projects like Social Security and Medicare: the state's inability by design to efficiently allocate resources and to resort to "one size fits all" solutions and applications. If the citizens of Elk Grove do not desire a given benefit, the fact that they receive it nonetheless is no excuse for forcing it on them, especially not at many times its probable market cost.
RT's own manager, Beverly Scott, blithely (and perhaps unkowningly) brings this idea to a concise point when she says:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
"I would never recommend to my board that we get into bidding for what I call core service ..."
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
(emphasis added)
What Ms. Scott is saying is that 1) RT is not in the business of attempting to provide high-quality service for the best price, which is something most people already know about state-run enterprises, and that 2) bus transit is a service so essential to the day-to-day lives of residents of the metropolitan Sacramento area that to even consider making it a private affair is tantamount to blasphemy.
Kudos to Elk Grove for shrugging off this particular burden, and best of luck to them in finding a suitable and affordable market replacement -- and hopefully they will serve as an example to other municpalities across America and around the world.
Phaedrus
According to the article,
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
[A consultant] confirmed the city's suspicions last year. He said Elk Grove contributed nearly $15.7 million between 2000 and 2002 but received only about $6.8 million in bus services within the city's boundaries, an $8.9 million gap.
RT officials disputed the amount, saying it's inflated by nearly $3 million. Besides, officials say, the additional money helps fund shuttles, buses and light-rail trains that serve everyone in the region, including Elk Grove residents.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
(emphasis added)
The two counterpoints expressed by the state-run RT are simply breathtaking. First, it pooh-poohs on the overcharging on the basis that the figures are inflated by $ 3 million -- while ignoring the fact that even if this is true, they are still soaking the municpal government for nearly six million dollars per year. If a private company were to be found to have overcharged a government (or even a group of consumers) through some price fixing or other scheme to the tune of mid-seven figures the ensuing scandal would bring down the rafters -- yet state-run enterprises are historically and almost universally so badly-managed that it doesn't even seem to occur to anyone that to ripped off by such an enterprise is something about which one should get worked up at all.
Second, the argument that a great deal of the money Elk Grove is overcharged goes towards other services Elk Grove does not want, but from which the city benefits to some extent, and therefore the charges are justified, highlights what is perhaps the biggest problem with all government programs, from the most simple to grand scale projects like Social Security and Medicare: the state's inability by design to efficiently allocate resources and to resort to "one size fits all" solutions and applications. If the citizens of Elk Grove do not desire a given benefit, the fact that they receive it nonetheless is no excuse for forcing it on them, especially not at many times its probable market cost.
RT's own manager, Beverly Scott, blithely (and perhaps unkowningly) brings this idea to a concise point when she says:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
"I would never recommend to my board that we get into bidding for what I call core service ..."
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
(emphasis added)
What Ms. Scott is saying is that 1) RT is not in the business of attempting to provide high-quality service for the best price, which is something most people already know about state-run enterprises, and that 2) bus transit is a service so essential to the day-to-day lives of residents of the metropolitan Sacramento area that to even consider making it a private affair is tantamount to blasphemy.
Kudos to Elk Grove for shrugging off this particular burden, and best of luck to them in finding a suitable and affordable market replacement -- and hopefully they will serve as an example to other municpalities across America and around the world.
Phaedrus
