Dave Heil wrote:
wrote:
Public transportation is NEVER sulf-sustaining, ALWAY subsidized.
Interesting. I've NEVER heard of a subsidized taxi company. Is
Greyhound subsidized too? Did you figure this out all by your "sulf"?
It depends on what is considered "public" transportation.
Taxi companies and Greyhound are private enterprises,
AFAIK. While they
do not receive direct money from the government, their business is
supported/facilitated by the government's use of tax money to build and
maintain roads, bridges, tunnels, etc.
Most forms of transportation receive or have received some form of
government support. Airlines don't build airports, trucking companies
don't build roads, shipping companies don't dredge harbors, etc. Yes,
their taxes and user fees help pay for those things, but those user
fees and taxes are on a pay-as-you-go basis, and rarely pay for the
entire cost.
This isn't a new thing - the Erie Canal wasn't built by private
enterprise, and the construction of the transcontinental railroad was
government funded - though the railroads paid back the construction
cost many times over in the form of real estate and other taxes.
To quote Webster (New Collegiate Dictionary):
"a grant by a government to a private person or comapny to assist an
enterprise *deemed advantageous to the public*" (emphasis added)
73 de Jim, N2EY