Free Public Transit: Russia goes after Bolivian natural gas

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Russia goes after Bolivian natural gas

The U.S. carbon-auto industry is helpless as Russia grabs for South American carbon and Venezuela signs oil deal with China. The people of the world will have to decide if we want more carbon wars or will we reduce waste. The most wasteful use of energy is the private auto and sprawl. Either fight for free public transit, or you will be fighting over gas and oil.

Immediately after two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers returned from Venezuela to their base in the Saratov region, a convoy of combat ships from the Northern Fleet set sail for the Caribbean. Why?
...Peter the Great is one of the world's most powerful destroyers. The ship can defeat large enemy surface targets and protect itself and its ships from air strikes and submarines. The ship has unlimited cruising endurance and is equipped with cruise missiles able to destroy targets at a distance up to 500 kilometers and anti-aircraft missile systems. In terms of firepower, the cruiser is peerless and equipped with Granit anti-ship missiles (20 missile launchers), a S-300F anti-aircraft system (96 missiles) and a Kinzhal anti-aircraft system...KP.RU

Free is Cheaper

How is free transit cheaper? Don't you have to make up for lost fare revenue? The answer is that your city will save so much money in other areas, and quality of life will improve so much that you will get back much more than the lost fares. Some examples are listed below. If you want to see specific numbers, see our spreadsheet here.

Increased return on investment. Public transit involves large fixed costs. When fares are gone, there are more riders per vehicle, getting more value from the investment.
Reduced parking costs. With free transit, fewer people will park downtown. City parking authorities can cost $180 million a year, paid by fines, which are just a tax on customers and delivery services.

Reduced traffic congestion. Studies have shown that the time lost in traffic costs urban economies hundreds of millions of dollars.
Less money exported for gasoline. A medium sized city can export 1 million dollars a day in gasoline money for cars. Free buses will reduce this considerably.
Better quality of life, priceless. In Hasselt, Belgium, when fares were removed, people in hospital started receiving more visitors.