unless you can afford (and want to pay) lower manhattan rent, you're a "loser"? that kind of me-first, dish-it-but-can't-take-it, i-count-you-don't mentality sounds exactly like..hmmm..ken.

yeah, doc, it's worthless to dump on other people while pretending it's in the name of "breaking up some unhealthy alliance" or, you know, whatever else feels good right then.

I didn't say Ken was scum, I said drivers with his attitude are parasitic and hostile. But anyway yes I think that is accurate, and I'm not sure what you're talking about with the "useful" and "productive" stuff because we are actually commenting on a blog post here!

ken's letter is over the top, but there are plenty of all-too-common subway activities that nobody likes. littering, solicitation, forcing everyone else top listen to your music, gumming up seats, scrawling on the windows. not to mention personal grooming that nobody else really wants to see, and the occassional puddle of vomit. it's insulting to acknowledge this stuff? a reactive "well he's the scum, not me" response is productive, useful, or accurate?

it isn't just foes of good planning and congestion pricing that notice these things.

It would be nice to magically change Ken's mind and make him stop hating New Yorkers, but his driving minority's unlikely support is not necessary to see congestion pricing through. (And, hint: faster, better carpooling with their "civilized" friends of the same social group is the only pitch with a chance.)

regardless, large numbers of people are going to act, to some extent, in symphony with their surroundings. ex: social costs of littering in a park that's not maintained are very low, so the grime persists and grows.

so maybe ken doesn't care much for his fellow citizens? declaring that he doesn't have the right attitude isn't going to change that. other improvements just might.

Instead of attacking the assessment by Klinger, the proponents of the congestion charge should talk about how the congestion charge money will go into improving mass transit.

Metro-North is highly civilized and very clean , mostly because it gets Sooo much more money to maintain the system. The new commuter rail stations in the Bronx and E Queens financed by PLANYC should enable the same type of commute for more city residents.

An express bus with upholstered seats and limited stops, AC, and air conditioned waiting stations seems pretty civilized as well.

Instead of attacking the assessment by Klinger, the proponents of the congestion charge should talk about how the congestion charge money will go into improving mass transit.

Metro-North is highly civilized and very clean , mostly because it gets Sooo much more money to maintain the system. The new commuter rail stations in the Bronx and E Queens financed by PLANYC should enable the same type of commute for more city residents.

An express bus with upholestered seats and limited stops, AC, and air conditioned waiting stations seems pretty civilized as well.

The subways are dirty and loud, and the signage in stations is inconsistent and often totally unhelpful. People don't use handrails and don't pick up spilled drinks...why? Maybe subway riders avoid, litter and deface (and, yeah, we do) because the digs don't exactly inspire mutual respect and community care.

A huge network has high maintenance costs, eh? I love having so many stops, too, but I'd walk a few blocks farther every morning if I knew my ride to work would be quick and clean. Ken's for real, and in spite of his ridiculousness, I think he has a point. Instead of lambasting him, I'd rather spend my time figuring out how to put that congestion pricing money to the best possible use, and then explain to Ken how his experience is likely to improve.

Mister Klinger, click through these pages and learn how transporting oneself in a contraption that uses outrageous amounts of energy per person transported (as well as in its manufacture and distribution); that generates impressive amounts of thermal pollution (to "turbocharge" the global warming that it generates with its air pollution); that damages the roads whose repair we all pay for, that takes up outrageous amounts of public space; that can be operated recklessly and lethally by anyone; and can, when operated recklessly, do way more human damage than other common means of urban travel; and whose particulate airborne exhaust contains numerous toxins--guess what--HURTS ONE'S FELLOW MAN, and therefore ain't exactly "superior."

http://www.naparstek.com/2004/12/gadgetbahn.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_Klinger