Free Public Transit: UK - Money given to banks was enough for 10 years of free public transport

Saturday, October 31, 2009

UK - Money given to banks was enough for 10 years of free public transport

Members of the Greater Manchester Campaign for Free Public Transport in Oldham Town Centre Day.
We argued our case repeatedly over the loudhailer, handed out around a thousand of our latest "Case for" leaflets and got around 200 people to sign our petition.
We need to organise similar open air events throughout the country as a campaign and not just in Greater Manchester, if we are to put what we are fighting for on the political agenda.
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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.