8 ms·

I don‘t think the cost is so high here, we have covert ticket inspectors, none of those fancy electric gates.

by whiterock 5y ago

iggldiggl 5y ago
And if you're prepared to spend that much money, I'd rather prioritise spending it on improved service first.
Fargren 5y ago
Aren't inspectors more expensive than gates? You don't have to pay a salary to the gates.
- southerntofu 5y ago
  Well, gates need people to install/maintenance them. And they're also pretty pointless unless you have controllers, too. Fun fact from history: here's a photo of former French president Jacques Chiraq jumping the metro https://cdn.radiofrance.fr/s3/cruiser-production/2019/09/904eb85b-11fc-4ebb-b5b2-1f2b2fd8313f/640_000_arp3010764.jpg https://cdn.radiofrance.fr/s3/cruiser-production/2019/09/904...
908B64B197 5y ago
Fully unionized with a (publicly funded) pension? Ass soon as you see a human it costs a fortune.
- southerntofu 5y ago
  "a fortune" is very relative. Railway workers are not exactly known to earn a fortune. From what i could see in France (quick search), they earn between 1500 (close to minimum wage) and 2500€ per month, before taxes. Also around here i've never heard railway unions ask for better compensation, because as you have pointed out they already have a good pension and some transport-related privileges [0]. However, they have been relentlessly asking for better working conditions in order to provide a better service, and that the government stop to try and privatize railways. Of course the managers, directors and private contractors earn a lot more and that's how our corrupt overlords get away with siphoning much public money into private pockets. But these people, we could well do without, and unions would certainly support a move like that. [0] Personally, i would strongly approve better compensation for those people we now call "essential workers". It appears in a capitalist system, those who work the most and provide the most services (railway/construction/food/cleaning/health workers) are those paid the less and with the most grueling working conditions. That's a shame.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    Railway ticket selling and checking/enforcement are only essential jobs if rail isn't free.
southerntofu 5y ago
Tickets may be cheap and somewhat eco-friendly if made from whatever recycled paper and a drilling machine like in the old days. But i doubt that's the case, so you have to account for the financial and ecological costs of all the electronics and magnetic tapes, and all the replacement parts you need to keep that system of control operating. Also, if your tickets are sufficiently unsophisticated to be eco-friendly, then they may well be very easy to forge. That is, without mentioning that controllers have to be paid without providing any service. If you additionally take into consideration the social cost of the criminalization of something as banal as using public transports when you don't have money, the benefits of doing away with these systems of control arguably are even more evident.

I don‘t think the cost is so high here, we have covert ticket inspectors, none of those fancy electric gates.

iggldiggl 5y ago

And if you're prepared to spend that much money, I'd rather prioritise spending it on improved service first.

Fargren 5y ago

Aren't inspectors more expensive than gates? You don't have to pay a salary to the gates.

southerntofu 5y ago
Well, gates need people to install/maintenance them. And they're also pretty pointless unless you have controllers, too. Fun fact from history: here's a photo of former French president Jacques Chiraq jumping the metro https://cdn.radiofrance.fr/s3/cruiser-production/2019/09/904eb85b-11fc-4ebb-b5b2-1f2b2fd8313f/640_000_arp3010764.jpg https://cdn.radiofrance.fr/s3/cruiser-production/2019/09/904...

908B64B197 5y ago

Fully unionized with a (publicly funded) pension? Ass soon as you see a human it costs a fortune.

southerntofu 5y ago
"a fortune" is very relative. Railway workers are not exactly known to earn a fortune. From what i could see in France (quick search), they earn between 1500 (close to minimum wage) and 2500€ per month, before taxes. Also around here i've never heard railway unions ask for better compensation, because as you have pointed out they already have a good pension and some transport-related privileges [0]. However, they have been relentlessly asking for better working conditions in order to provide a better service, and that the government stop to try and privatize railways. Of course the managers, directors and private contractors earn a lot more and that's how our corrupt overlords get away with siphoning much public money into private pockets. But these people, we could well do without, and unions would certainly support a move like that. [0] Personally, i would strongly approve better compensation for those people we now call "essential workers". It appears in a capitalist system, those who work the most and provide the most services (railway/construction/food/cleaning/health workers) are those paid the less and with the most grueling working conditions. That's a shame.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  Railway ticket selling and checking/enforcement are only essential jobs if rail isn't free.

southerntofu 5y ago

Tickets may be cheap and somewhat eco-friendly if made from whatever recycled paper and a drilling machine like in the old days. But i doubt that's the case, so you have to account for the financial and ecological costs of all the electronics and magnetic tapes, and all the replacement parts you need to keep that system of control operating. Also, if your tickets are sufficiently unsophisticated to be eco-friendly, then they may well be very easy to forge. That is, without mentioning that controllers have to be paid without providing any service. If you additionally take into consideration the social cost of the criminalization of something as banal as using public transports when you don't have money, the benefits of doing away with these systems of control arguably are even more evident.