Future of the hobby
the money will run out and that will be the end of it.
No, it will continue to be subsidized to benefit a few compared to the rest of the state and the rest of the state will do the subsidizing.
Sarah and I used to have this discussion from time to time. She used to lament the fact we don't have a mass transit rail system in place like Europe does. But all those little countries in Europe aren't anywhere near the size of the United States and we are a lot more rural. Buses run around here from the local larger small cities to the smaller villages a couple of times a day, but the nightmare in infrastructure makes it prohibitive to run a rail, say, from Elmira, NY to Syracuse, NY, connecting a city with 30K+/- to a city with 250K+/-.
One of the things to take in account, too, is that our large rural areas have a different culture in the way we do things as compared to those who "live in town."
When I had the grocery store just around the corner from me in Elmira, it was nothing to shop for a couple of days at a time, depending on what we felt like having for dinner, what the sales were, etc. A lot people in Elmira don't have cars, it's no big deal for them to walk to the local grocery store and do the same thing... shop for a couple of days at a time to make it easier to carry home on foot.
Living 15-20 mins from the local grocery stores, now, I make a run every couple of weeks. If I need something from the local lumber yard/hardware store for the house, then I try to plan ahead as to what I'll need to finish a job or get a good start on the next one. I try to narrow it down to one trip, if I can, so as to save on gas and save time, not having to drive another 40 minutes round trip.
As far as the car culture and the NY Times article, Matt gave us a few very valid points. The associated costs of owning a car can be a killer for a kid just entering the workforce and trying to stretch a minimum wage job to pay for everything. Insurance for a kid isn't cheap and the cost it takes to fill a tank isn't exactly inexpensive either. Then add in registration, the cost of inspection for those who live in inspection states (which is never just the cost of inspection... cars require repairs), the cost of maintenance...
Here in NY state, now you have to pay for everything up front when you get your permit... the written exam, the road test, the 5 hour safety course, your permit and you license, all due up front. Once upon a time you paid as you went, which meant you could spread the cost over time. Now, a kid is expected to pay close to $200 up front.
And none of this is taking into account the job markets in areas. Kids and adults are competing for the same jobs. I live in a tourist area, with a lot of seasonal jobs with very little manufacturing. Once upon a time the seasonal jobs were filled by the kids in the summer and then back to school. Now those seasonal jobs are being filled by adults, trying to make ends meet.