Free Public Transit: To get peace and economic security, Americans will have to give up cars

Monday, May 8, 2017

To get peace and economic security, Americans will have to give up cars

@realDonaldTrump Bush-led wars could've paid for:
✔️health insurance for *15 years* +
✔️wiped out student loan AND credit card debt +
✔️Fixed infrastructure
— Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) May 7, 2017

This tweet shows that many Americans are fed up with hypocrisy and corruption of the GOP. But why does the GOP have so much power?

The American system is dependent on wasting energy. There are trillions of dollars worth of autosprawl infrastructure. Roads, highways, cul-de-sacs, refineries, pipelines, and massive military spending to protect energy sources and routes.

As long as there is sprawl, there will be Trumps.

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.