Posted on 02/19/2020 12:14:56 PM PST by karpov
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) recently told a progressive audience at Howard University that, “Public transit should be free.” This is just the latest call for free transit; the issue has been bubbling up around the country in the past few months, started in large part by some misreporting of events in Kansas City, Missouri.
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A 2002 study authored by Jennifer Perone and Joel Volinski of the Center for Urban Transportation Research concluded:
"Based upon the findings of this synthesis, it is concluded that a fare-free policy might be appropriate for smaller transit systems in certain communities, but is ill-advised for larger transit systems in major urban areas because experience shows that in larger systems, a tremendous amount of criminal activity, as well as a sharp increase in ridership, caused higher maintenance costs, labor costs, and operational costs and drove away existing riders."
In a 2012 book, “Implementation and Outcomes of Fare-Free Transit Systems,” Volinski details a fare-free pilot program in Austin, Texas. Ridership increased by as much as 70 percent, but there were issues of, “overcrowded buses, disruptive passengers, and unhappy bus operators.” The program was discontinued. Denver tried a similar fare-free program but saw the same results and discontinued it.
Transit passengers say lower fares are not a priority. A 2019 survey of 1,700 riders around the country conducted by TransitCenter found, “What we heard is that most low-income bus riders rate lowering fares as less important than improving the quality of the service.”
NBC News referenced a study by the Center for Economic Information at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. But unfortunately, the “draft mini-report” on fare-free only made matters worse, making bold predictions by omitting any measure of the costs of such a policy.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
“... a progressive audience at Howard University”
A ‘progressive’ audience? As if there’s any other kind at Howard university? Tell us about the Conservative, Republican audiences at Howard U, please...
Howard University... do they have a white safe space?
So I read the study, we should support free subway public transit.
Criminals quickly take over and drive away normal riders.
Maintenance gets deferred, and the system collapses.
Then we can use it for homeless shelters! ;-)
Upon hearing this, one of the attendees at the event told Rep. Pressley that, "My elected representatives should be free."
Rep. Pressley was unavailable for comment.
By free, they mean “paid for by the collectivity.” They are never satisfied. They will continue to demand “free” things, until everything is “free.”
At that moment, the country will have become 100% communist. It’s about 30% already.
Under communism, the collectivity owns everything. There is no private property. The collectivity is the sole employer, and the owner of everything.
The dems are taking us there, a little at a time, until one day everything is “free” and we are all miserable because we have nothing. (But the ruling elite has everything it wants.)
I taught college economics for more than a decade. My first lesson was always... There is no free lunch plus my colarary there is no free beer either.
The Oregon legislature is now pushing through a bill that would ban the police from investigating or pursing non-payment of a bus fare.
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