Comments on: Magic Bus Strike: Why buses are so big and empty http://johnseilerblogs.com/?p=72 Email: john [at] johnseiler [dot] com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:43:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: calwatch http://johnseilerblogs.com/?p=72&cpage=1#comment-33 calwatch Tue, 10 Jul 2007 03:13:14 +0000 http://johnseilerblogs.com/?p=72#comment-33 While jitneys are nice, the problem is not state regulations... it's actually federal regulation, specifically the ADA that Republican Senator Bob Dole championed and Republican President George H.W. Bush signed. And for good reason, since folks in wheelchairs can board a bus just like anyone else, or call a taxi company and request a wheelchair cab stop at their house. But the ADA also requires that all public facilities be accessible, which presents an unreasonable demand to jitney operators to have their drivers handle the physically disabled. In addition, you have the wonderful world of liability insurance to come into play. Most jitneys look like crap and can't afford all the liability insurance. California's only legal jitney operator, in the wonderfully liberal bastion of San Francisco, paid $18,000 in liability insurance a year in 1997, and that on a then-19 year old GMC van. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1997/07/28/MN52459.DTL Could they meet OCTAP's demands of working air conditioning, seat belts, and rollable windows? Could they afford the liability insurance? Generally, insurance companies don't like you carrying strangers, or goods for hire. That is the real killer of the free market, not alleged government regulation. While jitneys are nice, the problem is not state regulations… it’s actually federal regulation, specifically the ADA that Republican Senator Bob Dole championed and Republican President George H.W. Bush signed. And for good reason, since folks in wheelchairs can board a bus just like anyone else, or call a taxi company and request a wheelchair cab stop at their house. But the ADA also requires that all public facilities be accessible, which presents an unreasonable demand to jitney operators to have their drivers handle the physically disabled.

In addition, you have the wonderful world of liability insurance to come into play. Most jitneys look like crap and can’t afford all the liability insurance. California’s only legal jitney operator, in the wonderfully liberal bastion of San Francisco, paid $18,000 in liability insurance a year in 1997, and that on a then-19 year old GMC van. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1997/07/28/MN52459.DTL Could they meet OCTAP’s demands of working air conditioning, seat belts, and rollable windows? Could they afford the liability insurance? Generally, insurance companies don’t like you carrying strangers, or goods for hire. That is the real killer of the free market, not alleged government regulation.

]]> By: PJ http://johnseilerblogs.com/?p=72&cpage=1#comment-31 PJ Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:44:32 +0000 http://johnseilerblogs.com/?p=72#comment-31 Great post! "The first problem was that nightmare of every journalist: no free booze." LOL! Great post!

“The first problem was that nightmare of every journalist: no free booze.” LOL!

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