#falseeconomies — Public Fediverse posts

It would " cost an enormous $4.6tn, involving 7,500 miles of new dedicated infrastructure for trains and buses, over the next 20 years, a recent report found." To build out a world class #transit system.

That sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Well, what are people spending on driving? A crude estimate based on the StLouis Fed "Fred" report suggests about 244 million VMT per month. In gas costs alone, that's also a very big number. And then there's insurance and maintenance for cars, the cost of unproductive time sitting in traffic jams, the health costs from collisions and air pollution, environmental impact, etc.

Cars, it turns out, are an incredibly expensive solution to the problem of mobility. But the cost is distributed everywhere, and doesn't show up in a nice single number. Boy,, public transit is so expensive - because you can measure that as a specific budget line item.

#Transit #Cars #Cost #FalseEconomies

Oh good. It's such a sound financial strategy to send people back into the real criminal justice system, isn't it? #FalseEconomies
Sure, we honor their service, but only if it doesn't cost too much. #Hypocrisy

Cuts could send S.F. veterans back to criminal court
https://missionlocal.org/2026/05/cuts-sf-veterans-court-counselors/

#MayorLurie #SanFrancisco

I continue to be stunned by decisions on cost made by looking at 1 component of a system, rather than looking at the total cost.

Here somebody saves maybe $20/£15 by shifting the work to the doctor, taking maybe 2.5 hrs and thus delaying access to treatment.

Maybe any administrator dealing with budgets needs a certificate in Total Cost Analysis?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/31/ridiculous-cuts-to-ai-cancer-tech-funding-in-england-could-cost-lives-experts-warn

#TotalCost #FalseEconomies #healthcare