[sustran] Re: Why Free Public Transport is a BAD idea? - Comments

Lloyd Wright Lwright at vivacities.org
Fri Jul 9 19:48:17 JST 2010


While I am somewhat neutral on this topic, I would note that many of the
arguments put forth would apply equally to sidewalks, cycle ways, public
parks, public toilets, etc.

And yet, I doubt most of us would advocate charging a fee for use of these
(although there are cities that do charge for access to parks and toilets).

We don't generally advocate charging a fee for using the sidewalk because it
is viewed as a public good.  And hopefully we all support walking as public
policy (as well as cycling and public transport).

I am struck by the fact that in many cities with free public transport, the
Armageddon suggested in some of the comments does not happen.  The systems
are well maintained and operated.  There are still pedestrians and cyclists.
And they do not become too crowded because they are sized to meet the
demand, which should be a design principle regardless of the fare level.

The free transport business model can also be sustainable.  For example,
Orlando (FL) has a very nice free inner city BRT service paid for by fees on
private vehicles (which has a nice bit of justice to it).  Miami has a truly
wonderful free People Mover.  

Obviously, the examples from Florida and Belgium are not representative of
what would happen in developing Asia.  But I am not sure that free public
transport is out of the question for these contexts.  

And hopefully, we can continue to use sidewalks, cycle ways, parks, and
toilets before the economists demand a strict application of user/polluter
pays.

Best,

Lloyd

-----Original Message-----
From: sustran-discuss-bounces+lwright=vivacities.org at list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+lwright=vivacities.org at list.jca.apc.org] On
Behalf Of eric britton
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2010 17:53
To: Sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
Subject: [sustran] Why Free Public Transport is a BAD idea? - Comments

New comment on your post "Why Free Public Transport is a bad idea?"
Author : Anzir Boodoo (IP: 91.107.131.247 , 91.107.131.247)
E-mail : ab at transcience.co.uk
 
 
Eric,
 
I think you are forgetting a couple of other major reasons...
 
5. Free public transport creates modal shift from walking (and possibly
cycling). For example, the free city centre bus in Leeds (UK) has mostly
replaced trips on foot, not trips by taxi from the railway station (as
intended) or even short hop trips by bus. Free public transport can thus be
a loser on public health grounds (people should be walking and cycling
more), and CO2 emissions (which are higher by bus than on foot)
 
6. Free public transport may encourage people to travel more, since the only
cost is their time. This will also increase individuals' level of emissions,
not to mention pollution from diesel buses (as they will stop more and we
will need more of them)
 
7. Free public transport may encourage people to use their city centres more
than local suburban centres (I don't have any evidence for this!), or large
out of town hypermarkets instead of their local suburban centres or local
shops.
 
8. Free public transport is unfair on the "polluter pays principle". All
transport produces CO2 emissions, from breathing when you walk or cycle, to
the fuel use of motorised transport. Are we allowing people to burn fuel and
not pay for the damage this causes?
 
9. It's well known anecdotally (from observation, if not from studies) that
people value things they pay for, and not necessarily things they get for
free (see "the tragedy of the commons"). What about respect for drivers,
vehicles and infrastructure?
 
Before you ask, I'm all for cheaper public transport, and believe we should
be subsudising it to an extent, but I don't think making it free is the
answer. I know the mayors and officials of towns like Hasselt in Belgium
(where buses are free) would disagree...
 
You can see all comments on this post here: 
http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/why-free-public-transport-is-a-
bad-idea/#comments
 
 
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