[sustran] Re: At Any Cost? The hidden costs of charging for public transport

[bruun at seas.upenn.edu]

Berthelsen makes a comparison between Island Transit on Whidbey Island  
and the Stockholm
transit system. I know them both quite well. There is a world of  
difference. Whidbey is
an example of a system that shouldn't charge for the reasons he gives  
and the reasons
I gave a week or two ago. For them overloading and fare revenue are  
not signlificant. Stockholm is an example of a system that should  
charge, for the reasons so many others on this listserve have  
explained. Stockholm rail lines are already seriously overloaded at  
times and fare revenue is highly important.

Berthelsen is absolutely right that checking tickets and collecting  
fares can waste time, but it is possible to eliminate this hassle and  
wasted time and still charge by going to an honor system, with  
proof-of-payment when challenged.

Eric Bruun


Quoting eric britton <eric.britton at ecoplan.org>:

>
>  <http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/author/worldstreets/>
>
> At
> <http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/at-any-cost-the-hidden-costs-o
> f-charging-for-public-transport/>  Any Cost? The hidden costs of charging
> for public transport
>
> The Editor <http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/author/worldstreets/>  | 21
> July 2010 at 17:43 | Categories: New Mobility
> <http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/category/new-mobility/>  | URL:
> http://wp.me/psKUY-Nr
> Today's piece by Alex Berthelsen of Planka.nu, Sweden's largest public
> transport NGO, is part of World Streets wide-open brainstorming series on
> "free public transport". The most recent article in this series appeared
> here last week under the title "Why Free Public Transport is a bad idea",
> inviting our readers to share their critical thoughts on [...]
> Read
> <http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/at-any-cost-the-hidden-costs-o
> f-charging-for-public-transport/>  more of this post
> Add
> <http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/at-any-cost-the-hidden-costs-o
> f-charging-for-public-transport/#respond>  a comment to this post
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