Sorting out the 'cheap' from the poor

Conservative columnist Patrick McIlheran apparently has actually ridden a bus, according to his column today. He is less anti-transit than most of the right-wing chorus, and claims to be a transit/train lover of sorts.

But he truly doesn't get it. Consider, if you will, this statement:

Buses work well, though, for those who need them: one-car families, the cheap, those in wheelchairs.

How about no-car families? Milwaukee's central city has thousands of households without cars. The Census Bureau reports:

In 2003, Milwaukee city, Milwaukee County pt. had 225,000 occupied housing units - 104,000 (46 percent) owner occupied and 120,000 (54 percent) renter occupied. Seven percent of the households did not have telephone service and 19 percent of the households did not have access to a car, truck, or van for private use. Twenty-eight percent had two vehicles and another 10 percent had three or more.

Remember, those figures are for the entire city. The rate of households without cars is probably twice as high in the central city.

The people on the bus are not cheap; they're poor.

And every time Scott Walker cuts more bus service and raises fares, he makes life that much harder for them -- and makes it that much more difficult to get to a job.

I don't care whether they ride a bus or a tram. But to be so blind as to suggest that buses are for people who are cheap or only have one car explains why McIlheran can be so out of touch, and so lacking in empathy, on other issues.