cinnamon colbert's Journal: why are the buses used in mass transit so bad

Most americans are familiar with the buses used by mass transit systems.
And surely most people know that they are very noisy and smelly.
One can understand that the companies that produce these products produce crap; there is a reason Detroit has lost so much of the American car market to the japanese.
However, how can the elected and unelected people with responsiblity for purchase and oversight allow this to go on ?
The only reasonable answers are (a) they are being bribed; (b) they never ride the buses themselves so they don't care; (c) only poor people ride the buses, so who cares.

The answer is (c)

[TopShelf]

In too many cities, bus systems are tolerated as a neccesity to move low-paid workers to their jobs and back home again, nothing more. Which is a damn shame, really. One of the exceptions is Ann Arbor, where back in the 90's, I got by without a car for a long time, thanks to their top-notch public transit.

It doesn't take much - clean, reliable buses with routes that are useful.