Free Public Transit: Hohhot, Inner Mongolia

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Hohhot, Inner Mongolia - plan for free buses.

Rumors abound in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia that the government is considering making some or all of the nearly 100 bus lines fare-free. Incredibly, one of the arguments against is that the buses will become crowded. We keep hearing this. It just shows how bankrupt and brainless is the anti-public transit argument. Xinhuanet.com

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.