But I was surprised to find out that the Anaheim Resort Transportation system (interactive map here) provides an alternative to driving to the various tourist attractions in the area. OK, that's an awfully innocuous way of putting it; the system is there for Disneyland. Yes, it serves other destinations, but all 16 of the 18 routes routes (18 routes!) go directly to Disneyland, and the other 2 simply stop across the street.
When I heard about ART, I assumed it had to be A. Free, and B. Funded cooperatively by those resorts/destinations it served (primarily Disneyland).
Oh, such naivety.
Upon actually researching it, I found that when it opened ten years ago, it was intended to be fully supported by rider fares. At the time, a day pass cost $2 and kids rode free. Three years later ART received a $292,000 earmark. And since then fares have doubled, landing at a current rate of $4 for adults and $1 for kids.
In other words, a "public" transportation system created in response to Disneyland's enormous transportation impact (and in effect saving Disney a ton of money by limiting the amount of parking it needs to provide) operates free of ANY contributions from Disney. Instead it has raised fares and turned to federal funding for support.
The news isn't all bad, however. Ridership is good (21,900 people/day, or 7.5 million/year according to this report) and many of the vehicles are electric or powered by natural gas.
So while it's nice to see an alternative to driving for access to Disneyland (and a few other places), I will retain my ill feelings towards Disney as one of the most irresponsible mega-corporations out there.
Soap box out.
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