Commentary Private trains can’t make money and provide good service. Only the government can run trains. Give it more dollars. That’s been the transportation bible of New York’s political/media elites going back to the early 20th century goo-goos. They opposed any private subway component. Their descendants consistently funded pricey city and state transit agencies. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a state agency running the region’s subways, buses, and trains. The trains are a mess, state and city officials agree. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s 2018 report, “Financial Outlook for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 8-2019,” (pdf) found New York’s state-run transit has “deteriorating service.” The MTA, DiNapoli wrote, “is facing its greatest challenge in decades. … Riders are abandoning the system for other transportation alternatives.” So the state will provide more of the same. It recently approved the biggest capital plan in the agency’s history. Some $54.8 billion is …