Posted on Thursday, 13th August 2009 by Patrick Dorwin
Most of you know that I drive for a living, I drive about 150 miles per day all over Milwaukee County. Milwaukee County has been installing bicycle racks on all of it’s buses, at a cost of about $650,000. As of about a month ago, installation was complete on all 466 busses, but many have had the racks installed for a few months, but until yesterday, I had never seen one in use (remember I have driven thousands of miles and spent hundreds of hours on Milwaukee streets). First thought? What an asinine way to spend $650,000 tax dollars!
The next time some Lib is seen whining for money for this crisis or that desperate need, remember, we spent $650,000 on something that will benefit almost no one.
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12 Responses to “What an asinine waste of money — $650,000 for this”
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August 13th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
If you were truly going to account for the cost, you’d get some figures on how many bicyles take a ride on one of these racks, and you’d calculate the time it takes to load and unload the bicycle.
Then you’d multiply the time by the per hour cost of operating the bus (vehicle depreciation, fuel, maintenance, direct labor) and, after depreciating the capital cost of the racks, obtain a cost per bicycle ride.
And, before you say “that’s an absurd amount of work,” consider that businesses calculate the cost of things all the time- it’s mostly just government that talks breezily of “investments” in “green technology.”
And, who knows, perhaps they’re worth it. But, another way to determine what they’re worth would be to charge a nominal amount (25 cents?)for using them. For, if it’s not even worth a quarter to a user, why should taxpayers be forced to pay for it?
August 13th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
They have them here as well. I have even seen both spaces used on one occasion.
It’s a better use of money than Minneapolis’s $500,000 for ten drinking fountains.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
$650,000 is just the starting point. Please also add in maintenance and paying for any bike that gets damaged from now until ???
August 13th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Just think how much the ‘bus’ carriers that will be mounted to the front of the hi-speed trains will cost!
August 13th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I’m in the minority on this one, as I think it’s a good idea, and one I’ll take advantage of tomorrow.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I just don’t know how it’s possible not to laugh at this.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
please Patrick, add who voted for this…..I know it’s a lot of work
August 14th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Every time I drive in Nilwaukee, I hardly see any riders on the huge diesel buses belching out fumes. When the Transport Co. (a private corporation) was running the buses, they saw a diminishing trend in ridership and sold the white elephant to the stupid Milwaukee County guvmint. I remember that the employees were all for it because they kept their jobs and were now cherished unionized goozy guvmint employees. This was around 1970. Today the NCTS is a gigantic waste that loses money every year like AMTRAK. But the poor inner city bums have to have transportation and can’t afford cabs, so the guvmint must go on throwing money down the sewer. Ask yourself why? Now bicycle racks on buses? I thought the bicycle riders pushed for bike lanes painted on the pavement! Maybe next, we need to install bicycle trailers behind the buses and have another goozy guvmint employee operate a ramp for the bicycle riders to drive onto the trailer at each stop year around! This could be financed by a grant from the Obumma “Stimulus Bill”!
August 14th, 2009 at 9:13 am
They have these in Breckenridge, Colorado. During a recent trip my kids used them to up the hill so they could ride down the hill. As they were riding down hill next to the bus, the bus driver yelled out the window at them to wear helmuts or she would not let them on the bus again.
Here’s a question…if you’re riding your bike, why do you need to get on a bus? Aren’t you suppose to be on the bike?
August 14th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I’m from Madison and live in Chicago. Both cities have these ridiculous things. As someone who bikes alot, I have never seen the logic or necessity of riding the bus with my bike. If it rains, I get wet. If I get a flat, I fix it. I ride my bike to ride my bike. Not so I can ride the bus with my bike.
(full disclosure - a relative drove for Madison Metro - drivers cannot assist bikers, which leads to lengthy delays when biker can’t figure out how to load/unload; every day some idiot left a bike on the bus; they make nice additions to the front bumper when the bus hits something!)
August 16th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I live in downtown Milwaukee. I see these things in use on a daily basis. That’s not to say they’re worth what we paid for them, but they are being used.
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:09 am
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