I’m very aware of NJTransit, the MTA, and SEPTA. I can’t drive, but I know that they cost more in my taxes to run than they would if they were privatized but legislated in terms of salaries, etc.

In what fucking world would privatized public transport be cheaper.

It’s just a matter of fact that for them to run a profit, fares would be massive.

In order for them to run a profit in the current, individual car-dominated society, NJTransit would have to...

... double its fares.

In other words, still far fucking cheaper than a car payment, car insurance, gas, and maintenance. Hope you like parking fees, too.

Not to mention, the cost of taxis/"rideshares” when the buses & trains inevitably can’t get to where you need to go, or when they’re 15+ minutes late, or when they only run so rarely that they may as well not run at all.

Fuck man, I've lived in incredibly shitty areas for public transportation and most of the cities I've lived in have always been open to me, a fucking cripple with a limp. You're treating edge cases like the norm.

If you run a bus/train service and want to actually compete with cars, you need to have a truly massive number of vehicles on the road and rail, which means a massive skilled labor force between mechanics and crew, dispatchers, drivers, and route managers - all of whom expect to be paid more than minimum wage.

... okay? Do you think they're being paid minimum wage now...?

And you can’t assume 100% fill on every bus trip (that’s how you get situations where the buses run once an hour or less), so you have to charge based on minimum fill rate, so that every ride is at least guaranteed breakeven.

I really hope your job doesn't involve making decisions for any businesses, because that's a horrible understanding of firm economics. You don't charge based on the prospect of every individual ride breaking even; you charge knowing that the reliability of the service in low-usage periods ensures the continued usage during high-usage (and thus high-revenue) periods.