Right. Well, IIRC property tax is collected by the county and then sliced up and divvied out to different municipalities, which, also IIRC, then goes into the municipal general fund. If the city is stupid and doesn’t plan maintenance, and instead treats the rail as a free good, then when it comes time to keep up on it, it’s easier to just shrug and replace it with a business service.
What’s more is that you also had GM going around and basically taking the EEE approach to municipal transit by offering ridiculously cheap bus services to replace trams, only to end them a short while later. So, it’s not all on the cities, though one wishes they’d had the foresight to understand that private companies never do stuff out of the goodness of their hearts.
Via property tax. The same way local roads are maintained
Right. Well, IIRC property tax is collected by the county and then sliced up and divvied out to different municipalities, which, also IIRC, then goes into the municipal general fund. If the city is stupid and doesn’t plan maintenance, and instead treats the rail as a free good, then when it comes time to keep up on it, it’s easier to just shrug and replace it with a business service.
What’s more is that you also had GM going around and basically taking the EEE approach to municipal transit by offering ridiculously cheap bus services to replace trams, only to end them a short while later. So, it’s not all on the cities, though one wishes they’d had the foresight to understand that private companies never do stuff out of the goodness of their hearts.