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Why do trains have to make a profit but roads don't?
by chadcmulligan 5y ago
Why do trains have to make a profit but roads don't?
- thedrbrian 5y agoBut they do. I pay enough in road tax and fuel duty to cover the upkeep for the roads in the UK. Drivers here pay more than the government spends on the roads so the excess goes elsewhere. Ego the roads are profitable.
- tolbish 5y agoHow much tax money goes towards your roads vs your public transit system in the UK?
- stevesimmons 5y agoI pay enough in income tax to cover the upkeep for public transport in the UK. E(r)go everything is ok. Also, my spending on public transport reduces congestion on the roads. Drivers therefore get cross-subsidised. When will drivers reimburse me for that?
- dijit 5y agoJust a nitpick: road tax doesn’t go to roads. It’s just put into the pot for general things. Your road tax is most likely paying for Pensions and the NHS. Primarily. Normally council taxes are what cover roads, whatever can’t be covered by local council taxes is taken from the big pot, but only after civil servants at the local and national level bicker about it for a few years first.
- rnd0 5y agoWhy should roads have to make a profit?
- chadcmulligan 5y agoOther way round, they're a shared resource just like trains, but no one says roads should make a profit.
- pjmlp 5y agoSure they do, try to use motorways across several European countries, some with payment areas every couple of kilometres.
- dijit 5y agoI live in Europe. Feels like we have fewer tolls. I have a friend who can barely leave his house without hitting a toll road in Bryan, Ohio (not exactly the big city where it might be warranted for upkeep or as a bypass)
- pjmlp 5y agoPortugal, France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece come to mind regarding tolls. I should note that in Switzerland it is an yearly payment. As Portuguese I can assert our government loves having them.