Lately there’s been much talk about public transit.

• Some say it can’t work, so stop wasting money on it and build more roads.
  
• Others say that we should spend whatever is necessary to double or triple the current ridership.
  
• Another group says nothing can work until people are forced to leave their cars at home and start traveling collectively.

None of these options makes any sense because none deals with the overall problem, which is that there is too much traffic congestion in too many places, coupled with financially floundering transit that doesn’t do as good a job as it does in many other advanced countries.

It’s time to zero in on the actions that would work and do work elsewhere. Talking endlessly about this or that piece of the problem gets us nowhere.

First, no more expensive studies. The problem has already been studied to death. Excessive congestion can no longer be allowed to ruin cities and other built-up places. Individual cars and trucks traveling in congested areas during congested hours, including computer-dispatched cars, must be tolled. Tolls should be imposed and collected by the affected towns, cities and counties. Toll revenues should go directly into reducing or eliminating fares or otherwise improving the transit alternatives. Not one dollar of the money raised by tolling should be used for any other purpose than improving the non-automotive means of getting around.

As to transit there’s a great deal to do, so it will take time. Here’s a set of priorities that tries to address the subject:

Reliability: Transit service reliability is key. Riders must be confident that their scheduled train, streetcar or bus will come on time. Anything that detracts from that reliability must be addressed.

Maintenance: Consistently good maintenance is also a must. Transit vehicles, stations, stops and parking lots should be clean and well maintained at all times.

Fare Collection: Every transit rider should pay the fare. No exceptions except for kids under 16. Discounted fares if any should be provided by the agencies managing public benefits. Transit agencies should be focused on providing the best possible transit and therefore should not be in the business of distributing discounted fares or other special benefits.

Rider Behavior: Good rider behavior in and around all transit facilities is equally essential. Enforcement and accountability should be fast and predictable.

Comprehensiveness: The comprehensiveness of service will vary with location and ridership. While reliability should be regarded as universal no matter where a rider is, service will be more frequent and more comprehensive where there is greater ridership and less comprehensive in low density areas. It is simply too expensive to provide frequent service where vehicles are only lightly patronized.

Transit for the Handicapped: Transit-demand vehicles serving the handicapped must arrive within a reasonable period of time. The handicapped should never have to wait more than two or three hours for a transit-demand vehicle.

Operational Efficiency: All large public agencies should be subject to independent outside management audits at least once every two years. Poorly organized or inefficiently run organizations should be reorganized and reduced in size when and as needed.

Capital Improvement: Transit agencies, although often able to provide reliable and well-maintained transit service, have a tendency to take on major capital improvement projects, such as providing a new subway or elevated transit causeway or major bridge repair, for which they are hopelessly inexperienced. Over the last half-century, tens of billions of dollars have been wasted in the Greater Bay Area on poorly conceived and poorly administered large projects. This must stop.

Before launching a new capital improvement program, great care should be taken to ensure that an effective and sufficiently experienced project management team is in place and ready to execute. Throughout the process, great emphasis should be placed on assuring the practicality and cost-effectiveness of conceptual design elements. Weak alternatives should be weeded out quickly, with minimal waste of resources or loss of time. Under no circumstance should significant conceptual or other decisions be made by inexperienced individuals or groups. Consultants should be selected with great care after an extensive review of both their past experience and performance record. All expenditures should be carefully monitored by experienced accountants, and the project should be subject to an outside management audit at least once a year. From the outset of the project the Capital Improvement team should be put on and held to an aggressive completion schedule. The team should be possessed of sufficient experience, commitment, organizational efficiency, authority, confidence and political support to execute its program effectively.

Responses, including suggested additions welcome.