Back to the Future: How the Transit

Struggle Has Come Full Circle

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)

2014

Transit Started as Private

• In the early days of explosive urban growth, private companies saw a market for mass transit in our cities

• Built trolley, streetcar, and subway lines that eased congestion and moved the masses in dense cities

• Sometimes, the public helped subsidize these projects and used government power to make way for these urban rail lines and overhead wires

Private Operators Grew Greedy

• But, as in most industries, private operators increasingly sought to maximize profit

• Because regulation was virtually nonexistent, they increased profit by squeezing in more passengers, trying to pay workers less, and cutting corners on safety

• Let’s look at the District of Columbia as an example

Washington DC

• 1950s: Louis Wolfson’s Capital Transit mismanaged and bankrupted the DC transit system

• Increased fares 4 times, delayed maintenance, ignored workers, diverted surplus to big salaries and dividends

• Exposed for his “profits first, public be damned” policy

• “There are no bounds to the ambitions of these quick-profit boys”

Louie the Milker

Washington DC

• Local 689 responded with a seven week strike that paralyzed city yet won wide public support

• Wolfson was so obviously evil that newspapers, Congress members, turned against him

• Capital Transit lost its franchise, forced to sell

• 689 won a wage increase, vacation time, quadrupled sick leave

Transit Expands & Changes

• After WWII, economy boomed, Cold War competition ratcheted up, and Americans focused on decay of cities

• The government responded with huge investment in transportation and infrastructure

• Private contractors, of course, stood to benefit immensely from these investments in infrastructure

Transit Expands & Changes

• 1956- Congress creates Interstate Highway system

• 1959- new highways and a rail system proposed for DC

• 1960- Congress creates the National Capital Transportation Agency (NCTA)

Transit Expands & Changes

• In 1964, Congress passed the Urban Mass Transportation Act, which promised a flood of federal funding

• With federal money available, the NCTA proposes the creation of a multi-state authority to operate the system and match federal funding with state resources

• In 1965, Congress passed an updated National Capital Transportation Act, approving a 25 mile rail system

DC Regionalizes

• Roy Chalk forced to turn all streetcars into bus routes

• Amid wreckage of private transit, Chalk had difficulty keeping system afloat

• Virginia, Maryland, DC create WMATA

• WMATA replaced DC Transit in 1973

Strong Unions, Rising Wages

• Era of expansion, public control of transit

• Also era of strong unions, rising wages

• But with billions in federal funds at stake, private companies wanted in.

• They saw an opportunity to make a lot of money.

Money in Politics

• They began to fund candidates who agreed that private corporations could solve all of our problems.

• Poured money into campaigns, electing people who believed the services operated for a profit would be cheaper or more efficient.

• In recent years, this trend has reached a tipping point.

• Now, majority of elected officials are funded by corporations and promoting privatization

Money in Politics

• As corporate money dominated politics, elected officials passed laws that weakened unions, worsen income inequality, and diminished democracy

• Trend coincides with a decline in American cities and urban institutions

• Unlike the 50s, 60s, and 70s, urban renewal today now wholly owned by private companies receiving contracts paid for by taxpayers

We Are Not Alone

• You see it in transit and everywhere else:• Charter schools• Water privatization• Pension elimination• Hospital sell-offs• Post Office privatization• Battles in Wisconsin, Ohio, and beyond• Right to work in Michigan• Federal contracting frenzy

Today, We’re Racing Backward

• Public transit authorities were akin to Social Security for transportation, made to do big things, expand access to cities for millions

• Now, with the help of elected officials, they are nothing more than fronts for developers

• At the behest of their corporate campaign contributors, pols are twisting these agencies to promote private development, not public interest

Today, We’re Racing Backward

• Privatization-obsessed pols are going so far as to appoint private transit operators to public transit authorities.

• We see this acutely in DC.

• WMATA Chair is Tom Downs.

• Downs also happens to be the Chairman of the Board of Advisors of Veolia!

In Washington DC, Back Where We Started

• Downs sits idly by as DC politicians funded by private contractors privatized bus and streetcar service

• Think about that – pols pay private contractor to rebuild a streetcar system that private contractors convinced pols to rip out!

• They cut funds from WMATA to divert to these projects.

• Meanwhile, Downs raises fares instead of fighting for public transit funding.

In Washington DC, Back Where We Started

• The industry Downs makes his money from– private transit operations – is getting rich at taxpayer expense.

• DC now has a private bus system competing with the public one. Its city buses are up for bid, too.

• It will soon have a private streetcar.

• Soon, a new Purple Line will be private – the first leg of the Metro system that will not be publicly-operated by WMATA/Metro.

In Washington DC, Back Where We Started

• Tom Downs is the modern, subtle version of Louie Wolfson. He is a “Wolfson in Downs Clothing!”

• Politicians and bureaucrats like him are dismantling transit systems or contracting them out entirely, all in the interests of their contributors or companies

• That is why this training – and getting the story straight for the public – is so important.