Really? Seriously?

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I'm posting this because I'm about to ride MARTA in a few hours down to the airport to meet my crew of peeps going to Estonia.  When I heard about what they are planning to do in "these tough economic times," I had to say "really?"


So, MARTA is losing money.  Not surprising.  Nobody really likes riding.  Their service stinks.  Their rates are, well, okay (not great for waiting around for 20 minutes in a scary train station to catch a train that stalls a good bit of the time).  Okay, any good business person that has begged for, and probably received some, government bailout money would probably have an action plan to fix the revenue shortfall:  so this is what they're going to do...

1. Raise rates, and 
2. Cut service

So, by raising rates, less people are going to ride because you're automatically reducing demand for your service when you raise prices (it's called, economics 101).  So - will they be able to make up in fare hikes the people that will quit riding?  

And then... cut service?  Ahem, your service already stinks!  Can it really get any worse?  Seriously.  So, by cutting your already horrible service and charging more for it:  you'll get, again, fewer riders which means that you'll make... say it all together children:

Less money.

And then when next year's budget shortfall hits, what'll you do this time?  

Only MARTA.  Good times. 

Comments

Chris said…
What does MARTA stand for? Here's a thought:

Malfunctioning Around Running Times (in) Atlanta.
10:05 AM
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