[sustran] Why free public transport is a bad idea.

Peter Lutman lutman at globalnet.co.uk
Fri Jul 9 23:17:24 JST 2010


Dear Sustran-Discuss,

Public Transport operators do (or certainly should) constantly monitor demand, which is easiest done from the farebox, so that adjustments may be made to service frequency, hours of operation and introduction of new routes where transfer demand becomes significant. Free travel removes these data sources and would require replacement by costly surveys of Origin - Destination, journey purpose, required arrival, departure or dwell times and the like. 

In places where it is cold, people will ride public transport just to keep warm (I remember this happening in Norwich, England in the 1970s where the 5p City Circle which took an hour to go round attracted significant numbers of the elderly (and vagrants) in winter to warm up for an hour.

In places where it is hot, and transit has air-conditioning, the same sort of thing will happen.

Far from attracting prople out of cars and damaging the car and fuel supply industries, it seems to me that it would have the reverse effects, as the overcrowding and less salbrious members of society would soon discourage those with an alternative available from using public transport at all. I recall that 40% of the Tyne & Wear Metro's passengers actually had a car available for the journey they were making on the system - most of these would revert to the car rather than be squashed in with the unwashed!

In the UK people over 60 (soon to be raised to 65) currently have free travel on all bus services in their specific Country; England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Has any research been carried out into their change of behaviour? If so this might indicate what might happen with the rest of the population.

In the Transport for London area everyone under 18 has free travel on buses - again what change has occurred since this was introduced? 

Certainly with the efforts the coalition Government is making to reduce public expenditure and to balance the Nation's books, there is absolutely no way in which the loss of revenue could be funded, let alone the huge potential cost increases. There are no longer savings to be made (buses don't have conductors any more so they can't be got rid of) and Government already supports public transport with subsidies to the tune of about £10 billion annually if my memory serves me.

Fare free public transport is dead in the water so far as I can see.

Peter Lutman FCILT



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