One thing I haven't seen pointed out with the WeGo transit contracts is that they are also subsidizing private industry and thus private profits. We have fare-free on game days, for example. Private industry. Employer-provided bus passes. Private industry (with the caveat of public employees).
The current system in that regard is public tax dollars providing benefits for private profits. It should be the other way around, where taxing private profits benefits public goods and here with a fare-free system.
I always assumed that the Titans/Nashville SC were paying something for those free fares. Is that not how it works? I’m fully prepared to be wrong here
I am sure they are paying something - though I haven't seen the contracts. And while I am also willing to be wrong, I will eat my hat if it covers the entirety of the costs. And they are certainly benefiting more in revenue than the cost of the contract.
It also saves them on opportunity costs. That is, it frees up parking that would otherwise be a bottle neck to the number of possible patrons.
my understanding is the Titans pay for the entirety of ridership for a Sunday across the entire network. I believe this usually averages ~10k. Unsure of the NSC deal.
So the 5% for the day?
5%? I believe they pay 100%
No, ~5% being how much fares make up of general WeGo revenue for operating costs.
FY25 proposed expenses was ~$128 mil. Back of the envelop math is $350,684 a day. If they pay the entirety of ridership based on those numbers that $18.8K a day. Let's say they pay that, 5.3%.
For 10 pre- and regular season games last year, that's $188,000 back of the envelope (I don't follow sports for post-season numbers, this was just their posted schedule). On at least a portion of their private revenue, they made $81 mil in ticket sales alone. www.sportico.com/leagues/foot...
picking nits, but Sunday ridership is much lower than M-F, hence the 10k/18.8k discrepancy
That makes sense, but I was intentionally being generous.
I have never heard “picking nits” as an expression before.