Free Public Transit: What should be done first?

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

What should be done first?

Let's suppose you want to save money on your heating bill, so you have your house inspected for that purpose. The inspector advises 3 things:

double glaze the windows
increase wall and attic insulation
replace the door missing from your front doorway

You only have budget for one of these for now. Which to choose?

This is why we advocate free public transit. The private auto is draining civilization by wasting energy. It matters what we do first.

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.