I don’t know the rules on this, but check out the comments on these stories on the proposed light rail system, the $1 billion price tag for toll roads and $85 million bonds sale that would fund Union Park.

I get it, Nevada is a tax haven and everyone wants to keep their SUV. Politicians lit torches and shook pitchforks at a proposed $836 million tax hike by splattering TV screens with anti-so-and-so-legislator ads. Should they approve the “largest ever tax hike in Nevada history,” they will be pinned with a scarlet letter “L” for liberal-tax-thirsty-cannibal.

But the commenters aren’t doing their economics homework. Having read enough about environmentalism, CBAs, free-riders, externalities and all that jazz, I think I can take a stab at explaining why buses are better than cars.

The thing about externalities (1) is that we don’t measure them correctly. Let’s forget about who should own the road or get their own lane or have to pay to drive. That’s just a lot of noise that regresses into personal attacks and then everyone’s feelings are hurt, and Jimmy is crying in the corner with his apple juice.

What are the externalities of cars: air pollution, water pollution (yes, tires wear down and pollute the drinking water), street pollution (too many cars), things grow farther and farther away just by virtue of being able to drive that far away (2), people die more per capita from car accidents than bus accidents.

Bus externalities: taxes, roads need to be smaller so pedestrians can hop on the bus easier, some air and water pollution depending on the vehicle type, people have to actually share spaces.

If you’re vigorously nodding your head in agreement to the bus externalities, then you should be a hermit. I’m sure there’s a mountain lion on Mt. Charleston who will gladly raise you as her own.

You’ll be spending way less on taxes to support a public transit system that even moderately works than on a car, even an old jalopy like my grandma’s ’94 Toyota Corolla. But I’m not a number cruncher, so I’ll leave it to you to whip out the calculator.

It’s already been proven that an efficient transit system takes a lesser toll on the environment and our pockets than cars.

Don’t forget that Las Vegas has a bad rap for traffic accidents, too. Thousands die every year.

So what we’re talking about here is not just wallets, but the entire ecosystem of a city. Buses actually improve the ecosystem, whereas cars put a huge toll on it environmentally and socially. Sure, owning a car is a sign of independence but I think the current trajectory of Las Vegas is showing that owning a house and a car isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Also, just by saying “no one will ride the bus” doesn’t make it true. I intend to disprove that.

1. Wikipedia defines an externality as “an economic transaction is an impact on a party that is not directly involved in the transaction. In such a case, prices do not reflect the full costs or benefits in production or consumption of a product or service.”

2. For more on that, see Ivan Illich’s Tools for Conviviality on “radical monopolies.”

Related posts:

1. Las Vegas Transit Projects
2. UNLV Transit Hub Study, Part 2 of 2
3. 20 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Drive
4. Transit on the Interwebs
5. Resources on Bus Rapid Transit