🚲Feb 26, 2023

“The reason most public transportation is seen as ‘losing’ money is precisely because it charges for trips. If you don't charge fares, suddenly it can't ‘lose’ money. It just costs money, the same as the roads.”

This random comment has given me my new favourite argument for removing fares from public transit.

Show threadStargeezer SmithFeb 27, 2023
@dx
Public transit should be just an overhead cost to the city/state. A likely minor tax adjustment would cover it.
Show threadLassielmrFeb 27, 2023
@stargazersmith the more than 100 cities around the world now offering some form of free public transportation. In my country bus travel is free to all 22yrs olds and younger and all over 60yrs old. The aspiration is to offer it to all. Some E.U. nations already have free public transport for all residents. The objective is to remove cars from the road and reduce carbon emissions. @dx
Show threadActivistFeb 27, 2023
@lassielmr @dx @stargazersmith How do those 100 cities incentivize the socially responsible form of transport (which is not public transport, it’s cycling)? Public transport is quite harmful to the environment causing huge GHG emissions. The justification for public transport is that it simply enables more ppl to move through a city than what’s possible by cars alone. Getting ppl to cycle should be the goal.
Show threadActivist
@stargazersmith @dx @lassielmr If public transport is going to be gratis, then that can only be a wise move if you also supply people with free bicycle access and pay them to travel that way.
Feb 27, 2023 at 5:17pmWeb