Bus riders forced to subsidize carbon emissions

Opponents of public transit often (describe) tax support for transit as a "subsidy" and (argue that) bus and train riders should pay all costs. But in the five-year period studied, state aid to transit systems accounted for less than 6% of the $10.2 billion that the state spent on transportation, the study found. And while drivers pay just 17% of the cost of local roads, according to the study, bus riders paid almost 29% of transit costs in 2010, the Wisconsin Urban and Rural Transit Association says.
So who's subsidizing who? And these are just the hard costs. The study couldn't take into account the savings in greenhouse gasses and other pollutants, as well as the reduction in reliance on foreign sources of fossil fuels. ISTHMUS