Free Public Transit: What is the true cost of cars and sprawl

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

What is the true cost of cars and sprawl

Those infants with acute malnutrition at #alSabeen Hospital in Sanaa, #Yemen taken by Maad alZikry.
February 8,2017. pic.twitter.com/XKEEKgjESq
— AEJ خليل ้้้้้็็็็🔵 (@AEJKhalil) August 15, 2017

Energy is needed for life. But in our current system, energy is wasted by an inefficient auto-and-sprawl (autosprawl) system.

Waste generates profits. Each building is separately heated and cooled. Spread-out homes use many consumer products: cars, leaf-blowers, lawnmowers, home-entertainment centers, snow-blowers, ladders, hand tools, etc.

The world is divided between energy have/have-nots. But those who have are mainly wasting it driving around.

The war in Yemen is to protect shipping, especially oil, through the Bab al Mandab pinch point. The war is chaotic and complicated. Civilians are suffering.

All this so some people can drive an SUV to the cheeseburger window.

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.