Free Public Transit: North American oil producers in impossible price squeeze

Thursday, February 21, 2013

North American oil producers in impossible price squeeze

North American oil producers need to export to keep prices up. But high oil price destroys demand through recession. There is no way out. What is left of cheap oil is depleting quickly. Soon oil products will be rationed by price or fiat.

There is something you can do. Become a free-transit advocate in your town. Contact your favorite civic group and get involved.

For a good understanding of oil and fuel prices, read this article by Chris Nelder:

America’s oil choice: Pay up, or get off | SmartPlanet: "Higher prices may bring more supply, but it will also hasten the nation’s economic contraction, and merely keep it dependent on fuels that will eventually go into global production decline. Peak oil is here, costumed as oil prices that are too high for comfort, yet still not high enough."

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.