pjbr40 Posted March 15, 2014 Share #1 Posted March 15, 2014 I just want to hear your opinions on somebody. There no rumor or fact to back this up. How would you feel if Mr. Donald Trump take over the MTA. Would you feel happy because of his vision to get thing done right and quickly?or you think he won't care in away? I know he a real estate person, but what if he do something else as well and used his vision? I know he tried the airline himself but he failed. I know he had lot of good golf courts and people loving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Lexington Ave Posted March 15, 2014 Share #2 Posted March 15, 2014 My humble opinion. If this ever happened.. you would have to get ready for a fare increase!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsunflyguy Posted March 15, 2014 Share #3 Posted March 15, 2014 Many of the industries associated with Trump license his brand and aren't necessarily run by him. That said...that's nuts, the MTA automatically gets a bad reputation for being a government agency. A farcical association with Trump wouldn't help anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted March 15, 2014 Share #4 Posted March 15, 2014 The problem with private ownership in general is that mass transit doesn't really make money. The ratio between revenue and operating expenses, maintenance and a slew of other costs, most transit agencies barely make enough to break even at the end of the day. Others operate on losses that are eaten by the operating municipality. You'd be hard-pressed to get someone to buy into something that they'd have to constantly eat their losses on. That's why both the IRT and the BMT folded back in the '30s. Besides, I'm not sure Trump would be an ideal candidate to run the MTA. He did a great job footing the bill to rehab Grand Central Terminal back in the '80s and '90s, but I'm not sure he'd be willing to run the day-to-day operations of something that really isn't all that glamorous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamen Rider Posted March 15, 2014 Share #5 Posted March 15, 2014 The BMT actually reported a profit for 1939, but the point stands that operating a private public transportation system this big, in this day and age, short of OCP coming along, is basically impossible without some governmental backing. And as much as his ego plays him up, Trump is nowhere near OCP. You know he is only worth about 1/10th Mike Bloomberg? I really don't think the Donald has the resources to take on the load of the subway system, let alone the entire MTA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted March 16, 2014 Share #6 Posted March 16, 2014 The Donald inherited his fortune from his daddy and nearly lost it all at least once. The guy is a blowhard with little useful experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cl94 Posted March 16, 2014 Share #7 Posted March 16, 2014 No. Just no. Tourists get lost in the system as it is. What do you think would happen if every station had "Trump" in the name? I can picture it now: Touron: What train gets me to Trump Station? New Yorker: Which one? The one with the and at Park and 42nd, the one across the street from Nathan's on Coney Island, the one with the in the middle of Bed Stuy... Touron: The one with the yellow pillars New Yorker: Which one? Penn Station on the , 36th Street in Brooklyn on the ... Touron: I don't know. The old narcissistic guy with the toupeé told me XYZ Restaurant was near Trump Station with the yellow pillars... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtehpanda Posted March 16, 2014 Share #8 Posted March 16, 2014 Mass transportation these days, by and large, does not make profits. On its own, the subway actually profits; the MTA audit I would link to got deleted, but the subway actually only costs about a dollar and change per rider to operate. However, we use subway fares and tolls to cross-subsidize bus service and commuter rails, which makes sense; those two are the source of a lot of subway rides. Privatizing the subway would probably be doable, but then you'd have to figure out what to do with the buses and the commuter railroads. International subways that do make money either operate in places with low labor costs or leverage property development to boost demand around their stations and collect rent on the side.In any case, privatization these days generally has less to do with actually letting private operators do their thing, and more to do with paying private companies to maintain structures or to operate a set amount of revenue miles, with performance goals stipulated in the contract and whatnot. Successful contracts of this sort place no pressure on the private operator to actually boost ridership, but instead pay them to keep the place clean, keep the lights on, and keep the trains running. The PA sort of does this, since it contracts out the cleanings of its stations, the Canada Line in Vancouver is the best example of this, and the Purple Line in DC will do this once it opens.The Dual Contracts were overall a very positive thing, and had NYC not had Hylan making the 5 cent fare sacred, the 5 cent law would've been repealed a lot earlier, and there may not have been a need for taking over two bankrupt companies. Other cities had managed to repeal the 5 cent fare earlier, and in the grand scheme of things the BMT and IRT were a lot more rational in their planning decisions than the IND. The BMT actually reported a profit for 1939, but the point stands that operating a private public transportation system this big, in this day and age, short of OCP coming along, is basically impossible without some governmental backing. And as much as his ego plays him up, Trump is nowhere near OCP. You know he is only worth about 1/10th Mike Bloomberg? I really don't think the Donald has the resources to take on the load of the subway system, let alone the entire MTA. The Donald has gone through bankruptcy around four times, give or take. Do we want this man near the MTA at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missabassie Posted March 16, 2014 Share #9 Posted March 16, 2014 The Donald's too busy firing Omarosa... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtehpanda Posted March 16, 2014 Share #10 Posted March 16, 2014 I'd also like to point out that the value of the MTA's assets are definitely in the tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions; they've got 468 stations, 842 miles of track, 6,292 subway cars, and all the associated stuff. And that's just the subway; we're not counting the bus system, the commuter rail system, or the property MTA uses. Granted, due to depreciation a lot of it is probably worth nothing or pretty close to it, but it's definitely more than one person could afford to buy out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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