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Comment by abxytg | Hacker News Reader

Name an unsustainable social policy to end

Corrupt DPW that accomplishes fuck-all, for one. Subsidizing car ownership and driving in general. Rent control is arguably unsustainable as well. Don’t forget paying people to be homeless and shoot up in the BART station. Allowing people to get on BART without paying. Anyone else who has lived in the area could probably think of half a dozen more.

"Allowing people to get on BART without paying" is probably San Francisco's least important problem, as compliance with BART fares is > 99% among BART riders, which puts it above the federal income tax (~85%) and far ahead of parking meters (< 50%). If you want to use armed police to end some policy of perceived subsidization then the people you want to taser are parking scofflaws.

Also FYI BART is not a city agency and it has its own police force.

> BART says that fare evaders are costing the agency as much as $25 million a year

https://www.kron4.com/news/thousands-cited-for-evading-bart-...

To say that it’s the least important problem ignores a pretty wide swath of ostensibly less significant problems (cigarette misuse near buildings, litter, speeding, unlicensed drivers, unlicensed panhandlers, take your pick). I’m going to need a citation on that claim.

BART collected half a billion dollars in fares in 2019 so again, it has way higher compliance with the user fee scheme than other competing services like street parking and bridge tolls and vehicle license fees.

So they lost 5% of the fares they collected that year then. How does that work with the citationless “> 99%” number?

Yea good luck getting a DA to move the needle on any of those state or federal policies you named. Clown show of a recall. Clown show of a city.

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