Statistic of the Day

According
to the Starts
& Stops column in today’s Boston Globe, since
Sept. 11, 2001, the aviation industry has received $18.1 billion from
the Federal government in subsudies and security funding. Since Sept.
11, 2001,
the US public transportation industry received a paltry $250
million.

That’s 72 times more for air travel security than for mass transit security.

This in spite of the fact that 16 times more people use urban mass transit
each day than use all of the nation’s airports.

Could the reason have anyting to do with the fact that congressmen and
women average three or four flights a week, and haven’t taken a subway
or bus, outside of campaign photo-ops, since, well, in most cases, since
ever?

That, and the inexistence of a subway industry, or subway lobby in
any way equivalent to the Airline industry. If they existed, they could
offer free trips on the Red Line, but this would hardly be competitive.

statistics from the Boston Globe