Posted on 01/15/2020 11:51:56 AM PST by karpov
LAWRENCE, Mass. — Dionisia Ramos gets on the 37 bus twice a day, rooting through her handbag to dig out the fare and drop it into the slot, so it came as shock several months ago when the bus driver reached out his hand to stop her.
“You don’t have to pay,” he said. “It’s free for the next two years.”
Ms. Ramos had never heard of anything like this: Someone was paying her bus fare? At 55, she lives on a monthly unemployment check for $235. So saving $2.40 a day, for her trip to and from community college, past the hulking mills of Lawrence’s industrial past — that meant something.
Since a pilot program began in September, use of the buses has grown by 24 percent, and the only criticism Ms. Ramos has of the city’s experiment with fare-free transit is that it’s not permanent.
“Transportation should be free,” she said. “It’s a basic need. It’s not a luxury.”
That argument is bubbling up in lots of places these days, as city officials cast about for big ideas to combat inequality and reduce carbon emissions. Some among them cast transportation as a pure public good, more like policing and less like toll roads.
The City Council in Worcester, Massachusetts’ second-largest city, expressed strong support last week for waiving fares for its buses, a move that would cost between $2 and $3 million a year in lost fares. And fare-free transit is the splashiest policy recommendation of Michelle Wu, a Boston City Council member who is expected by many to run for mayor in 2021.
Larger experiments are underway in other parts of the country. The cities of Kansas City, Mo., and Olympia, Wash., both declared that their buses would become fare-free this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
...In the form of a gasoline tax. Taxation alters behavior and by tying free transport with a gas tax, they would gain the money for the “free” service, reduce freedom of movement, and create more dependency on them. This I would bet dollars to doughnuts on.
Ah, no cost retirement homes.
Hotel on wheels. When the library closes, just ride the bus all night.
Transit here in Pittsburgh was privately run until the early 1960’s.
The county was forced to step in and take it over because of a spate of sudden bankruptcies. NONE of the transit companies were able to operate at a profit.
And I don’t see any reason for that to have changed.
It’s just like the food pantries . . . the people that really need it are unable to show up and the ones that trade food for drugs, cigarettes, etc. are right on it. Rural transportation is also included in our local taxes which most people don’t realize and you wouldn’t believe who hops aboard and where they go.
If all of that fare collection infrastructure and labor was eliminated, the transit operators would probably be ahead of the game.
Plus, the buses would move faster, because there would be no bottleneck getting on.
In Singapore the buses are free. They pull up to the stop and three doors open, and people get on and off much more quickly.
We do pay for those services through taxes so its not free. Public transit it already paid for through taxes so eliminating fares would increase ridership.
A pubic good should be freely available. If its private transit, like taxis and shuttle vans then one ought to pay for the service provided.
A public service should always be universally accessible.
They say the reason COSTCO charges an annual fee is to keep the shoplifters out.
If you are willing to pay a fee, you are not the kind of person who steals, generally speaking.
Why should I pay again to ride the bus when I pay for it through my taxes?
I shouldn’t have to pay twice to use a public service. Its a rip off.
Private businesses need to make a profit. They can and do charge whatever they think the market’s priced at.
I’m all for it.
Like any “good” leftist plan, the people who don’t want it, and don’t use it will pay for it.
They just made it free in Kansas City
You pay for things through taxes you might never use. Have never used fire dept paramedics but I still pay for them.
Santa Claus
I hate those roundabouts, accidents waiting to happen
Car dealerships will happy to cooperate in the
name of Social Justice.
“...the reason COSTCO charges an annual fee...”
-
How the heck is someone going to shoplift
four #10 cans of green beans
that are shrink-wrapped together?
Light rail never produces. The famous BART system in San Francisco went into service in 1972. It has never turned a profit. While I’m tossing a dig it’s way, it’s 78% return on expenses is the best around.
I should confess something at this point. Bart returns far less on it’s outlay, that this indicates. A lot of these transit systems don’t break down their light rail, because it’s return on expense is so poor. They want to keep it popular, so they do their best the hide how poorly light rail’s finances are.
I believe the above included BART, bus service, and the trolly system in San Francisco.
Check out the chart down about a page and a half.
You will probably be somewhat amazed at how bad it is, even if you thought you knew how bad it was.
Los Angeles gets 27% on the dollar back in fees charged.
Enjoy paying your gasoline taxes folks. The riders of these mess transit systems certainly appreciate it. (Ha! Don’t kid yourself!)
Its invalid. You don’t distinguish between public and private goods. No one has a right or entitlement to the latter.
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