Pollution Free Cities: The Case for Free Public Transit

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Case for Free Public Transit

: Image via Wikipedia

Should All Public Transit Be Free? (Big Think- Think Tank, Oct. 1, 2010)

Also discussed here: Wellbeing Lower Among Workers With Long Commutes (Gallup, Oct. 1, 2010)

And here: “fare-free would "create a tipping point toward more people using public transportation" (Free Public Transit-The beginning of the end of autosprawl, Oct. 1, 2010)

And here: “Free roads? Why not free transit?” (Toronto Star, Sept. 14, 2010)

And here: Everyone benefits - Everyone pays (Free Public Transit, Oct. 1, 2010)

And here: Free Public Transport

Today’s review looks at a post that examines the overall benefits of free public transit, especially in cities which are faced with sprawl. Long commutes are less healthy, as the poll results show above. Point made is that some cities already provide free transit to selected groups with good results. Extending this to the general population would produce even greater benefits to the society served. Onerous fare charges, even those that are priced a bit lower than car commute costs, discourage the use of public transit and indirectly contribute to the air pollution and health problems in many cities.

Key Quotes:

“longer commutes have been linked with severe health problems, according to a recent report by Gallup

“we already pay close to 50 per cent of transit operating costs through taxes, why not go all the way and pay the full cost – it could be the cheapest way to give everyone equal access to transportation”

-benefits of free public transit- some “positive externalities”:

"Reduced air pollution, including especially reduced greenhouse gases"

"More efficient labor markets since it is easier for poor people to get to jobs"

"Health benefits: reduced asthma and other illnesses linked to automobile generated pollution"

"Less congestion on the highways for those who do need to drive"

“College towns have been a testing ground for free-ride transit.. Other transit systems have free-fare programs for children, students and the elderly”

"public transportation has to be paid for..not through the purchase of tickets by individual riders—it should be paid for by society as a whole through the one mechanism we have available for this, taxation"

"This should not be thought of as a 'subsidy' in the sense of a transfer of resources to an inefficient service in order for it to survive..but rather as the optimal allocation of our resources to create the transportation environment in which people can make sensible individual choices between public and private means of transformation that reflect the true costs of these alternatives."