Uneasy Rhetoric

We’re All for Mass Transit — in Theory

An excellent editorial by Steve Lopez in the LA Times on September 8th. Lopez cites a Public Policy Institute of California study which says that:

“Two in three [California] residents (67%) prefer to focus on making more efficient use of freeways and highways and expanding mass transit instead of building new freeways (30%).”

Lopez says that statistic is full of it. More precisely, the statistic is accurate but misleading.

People who drive on freeways, mostly alone, want more public transportation. Why? On the theory that other people will take it, thereby making it easier to drive on the freeways. You see the problem? Everyone wants public transportation for other people.

As Lopez says:

Sure, you might occasionally hear someone chatting up the merits of mass transit. But the first assumption is that someone else will use it, and the first requirement is that it pass through someone else’s neighborhood.

Statistics don’t lie. They just hide the sadder parts of human nature.