Free Public Transit: When given a clear choice, Americans consistently elect more and better #publictransit

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

When given a clear choice, Americans consistently elect more and better #publictransit

masstransitmag The voters of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township expressed their strong support for public transportation services by overwhelmingly voting to renew and restore a 0.7 millage transit levy. With more than 90 percent of the precincts fully counted, over 83 percent of the votes were in favor of the millage.

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.