Regarding the equity of mass transit.

I would love a per ticket charge on every transit ticket to fund mass transit capital spending on buses and guide-way. The Highway Trust Fund has been a reliable slush fund to promote road building for the past 100 years. I'd love transit to have the same thing.

I'd also like mandatory mass transit parking on private property as a condition of zoning approval. Oh, and complete elimination from liability from vehicular manslaughter--that'd be cool. 

And exclusive 'transit-only' lanes, the way cars have. Fairs fair, right? And heck, I'd take as many dedicated lane miles as proportional to the number of person-miles traveled. If mass transit is 3% of the total, 3% of the lane miles seems fair.

 

Oh! And I'd like automobiles to shoulder their share of providing mobility for those unable to drive, either due to poverty or disability, that mandatory 'lifeline service' transit agencies get stuck with. The DOT can should that, right, out of gas-tax funds? Should be easy with Uber/Lyft, although mandatory ADA wheelchair compliance could be ticklish.

That's the dream--for transit to compete of a level playing field. 

 

Any talk of  about transit needing to 'compete with the automobile' is bullshit. 'Competition' implies a fair playing field. I'm not even asking for all the past-advantaging done for automobility to be considered, just for DOT's to shoulder the requirements we ask transit agencies to shoulder.