Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Actually it is more of a recruitment/available worker issue than funding. All big cities are finding that there simply aren't enough people willing to do ANYTHING in the numbers that they were pre-Covid. My transit system has had a signing bonus of $7500 (up from $2500) and they have raised the hourly wage three times. It's now $28/hr. and they still are short of bus/train operators. Critically short. The police dept. is short hundreds of officers and there simply aren't enough people without criminal records and/or the willingness to work among the increasingly violent and unhinged populace (same reason bus/train operators shy away) to staff the system properly.