Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Public transportation has become an ideological war: the equality folks who think everyone should ride together versus the Market-types who wonder why there are still rails on the ground. Buses are last century, and trains the one before that. No bus comes to your house; no bus is on your schedule; there is no choice of buses if you don't like one; buses have a fixed, often congested, route; bad public buses don't go out of business; and buses don't pay for themselves, they're subsidized by taxpayers. More subtly but equally important; there's no way to get rid of bus public employee unions. Public transportation is an Equalist ideal where everyone has exactly the same seat on the subway, no premiums, and they are all forced to sit together; no manspreading.

Removed of the egalitarian baggage, transportation issues just aren't that difficult to solve; in fact, the Market is solving them right now in the form of Uber and driverless cars. Uber shows up at your door when you want them to and goes right where you want them to in the most efficient way possible; you know exactly how much you're paying; and you can allow additional passengers or not, your choice; plus, you can choose to upgrade your experience. Best of all: bad service and you choose another provider; there's surge capacity; and no public pension obligations. To a liberty-minded person, it seems like the perfect solution but, of course, it isn't equal.