Gig economy companies were not true pioneers. The truth behind their dominance is their aggressive market takeovers, aided by their precarious labor model. The piece wage’s effect is to induce workers to toil longer and harder for less.
Bus drivers and subway workers are dying from coronavirus at an alarming rate, and transit union leaders are calling for aggressive action to make them safer.
Transit officials in the nation’s capital did not have the money to keep the subway system open late for the Washington Capitals playoff game. But Qatar did.
The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is a proud advocate of a world-class, fare-free public transport system for Scotland.
PPT's assertion that "public mass transit is part of the infrastructure of any healthy and metropolitan area" made sense not only to the labour movement, but also to significant elements in the business community, gaining support from Democrats, Republicans, independents and Greens, as well as socialists. A wedge was driven into the Republican administration itself, between the secretary of transportation and the extreme right-wing elements.
In 2011 the transit authority cut its budget by 15 percent, eliminating 29 bus routes. It laid off 180 workers and reduced hours for more. The cuts continued the following year, and the region lost tens of thousands of bus riders. Some switched to cars, if they had one, or carpooling. Others walk now.
The public Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's bus costs are out of control, according to the ALEC-affiliated Pioneer Institute's 2013 report on the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's (MBTA) bus maintenance costs.
We will, no doubt, be needing roads - urban, local and interstate - for the foreseeable future, despite their negative effects. The good news is that we are now heading toward a transportation ecosystem that is far more varied and useful. Rather than encouraging more cars, more trucks, more pollution, less interpersonal connection and more privatized space, people throughout the country are radically changing travel and interpersonal connection.
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