just that it's common enough not to have them to be used to it

It's the difference between public transit as a public service vs. public transit as a profit-making venture (in some places) or at least as public service being "run like a business" (more common in the west).

As soon as "business" is uttered in the management of something, you get to cost minimization and life-saving measures tend to cost money. They're thus the first things cut unless forced otherwise by regulation.