3 ms·
> The rest of it comes from the general tax pool. As a non-driver, I get to subsidise your 'free' roads. Unless you happen to use a bus. Then you benefit from
by xienze 8y ago
> The rest of it comes from the general tax pool. As a non-driver, I get to subsidise your 'free' roads.
Unless you happen to use a bus. Then you benefit from it. And as a non-public transport user, I subsidize your public transit. It’s a wash.
> When you combine the total cost of ownership, subsidies, and infrastructure, you'll find that cars are far more expensive, privately and publically, at moving people than buses.
I never said otherwise. I objected to the argument that there is such a thing as a “free” bus service. The OP was comparing said “free” service to paying for a bus ticket. It’s not a fair comparison to make.
- vkou 8y ago> Unless you happen to use a bus. Then you benefit from it. And as a non-public transport user, I subsidize your public transit. It’s a wash. If we go to a restaurant, and go halvesies on the bill, but I order a salad, and you order a steak dinner with a bottle of champagne, it's not a wash. Subsidies to public transit vs subsidies to personal automobiles is more similar to that situation. But yes, nothing is free. However, plenty of services are 'free', in that there is no cost to the user, as opposed to a non-user.