4 ms·

A simpler solution to all these ticketing systems is just to make public transport free. We already have taxes at all geography levels if we want it to be paid

A simpler solution to all these ticketing systems is just to make public transport free. We already have taxes at all geography levels if we want it to be paid by a given city or region. People that don't use it benefit from it anyway by having less congestion in their private transport. Touristy cities already charge a fee per night to pay for the services tourists use. There's no point running these complex billing systems. Save that money to invest in the transport itself.

gorgoiler 5y ago
How would you deal with overcrowding?
- quickthrower2 5y ago
  Few people make journeys in rush hours for the fun of it so making it free I doubt would add much crowding.
ldjb 5y ago
It's an interesting idea, though when you consider that a lot of the people who use public transport in London don't actually live in London, and some services extend outside of London, it does raise a lot of questions. And that's before you even get into the political factors. Those challenges aren't necessarily insurmountable, but I imagine it would be a lot more complicated to do than it might first appear.
fomine3 5y ago
It's not possible if public transport is operated by company. I don't think it's good thing to government buy all public transport including profitable rails.
- ldjb 5y ago
  I don't think the idea of making public transport free (at the point of use) is entirely incompatible with a railway operated by the private sector. The company will need some form of income, but that can come in the form of fares, taxes, or a combination. Operating a railway is not a very profitable business as it is. The National Rail network is transforming into Great British Railways. It's not complete nationalisation, but the government will have a lot more control. I get the feeling that the private train operating companies are generally welcoming of the changes, especially since it means the state will shoulder the financial risk.

gorgoiler 5y ago

How would you deal with overcrowding?

quickthrower2 5y ago
Few people make journeys in rush hours for the fun of it so making it free I doubt would add much crowding.

ldjb 5y ago

It's an interesting idea, though when you consider that a lot of the people who use public transport in London don't actually live in London, and some services extend outside of London, it does raise a lot of questions. And that's before you even get into the political factors. Those challenges aren't necessarily insurmountable, but I imagine it would be a lot more complicated to do than it might first appear.

fomine3 5y ago

It's not possible if public transport is operated by company. I don't think it's good thing to government buy all public transport including profitable rails.

ldjb 5y ago
I don't think the idea of making public transport free (at the point of use) is entirely incompatible with a railway operated by the private sector. The company will need some form of income, but that can come in the form of fares, taxes, or a combination. Operating a railway is not a very profitable business as it is. The National Rail network is transforming into Great British Railways. It's not complete nationalisation, but the government will have a lot more control. I get the feeling that the private train operating companies are generally welcoming of the changes, especially since it means the state will shoulder the financial risk.