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Public transit is already heavily subsidized. The revenue generated by ticket sales isn’t nearly enough to cover overall expenses. That money has to come from s
by briga 4y ago
Public transit is already heavily subsidized. The revenue generated by ticket sales isn’t nearly enough to cover overall expenses. That money has to come from somewhere, and unless you’re going to raise taxes that means taking away from other public services. It’s no wonder there aren’t many politicians in North America advocating free public transit
- jmyeet 4y ago
- Areibman 4y agoGas taxes and tolls are in place to fund roads. (Though in many states it just ends up in the general fund).
- jkarni 4y agoIn the US, money from gas taxes is used to fund non-road-infrastructure, but conversely money from other taxes is also used on road infrastructure. It seems like on the whole gas taxes and toll do not cover roads (see eg [1]). [1] https://taxfoundation.org/gasoline-taxes-and-user-fees-pay-only-half-state-local-road-spending https://taxfoundation.org/gasoline-taxes-and-user-fees-pay-o...
- scrollaway 4y agoThe taxes could absolutely come out of car users. Roads are way more subsidised than public transports. I suggest we make drivers feel their impact on cities. Of course it won’t achieve anything, because it’s impossible to make people understand how bad the current system is, especially in the US. So far gone…
- avianlyric 4y agoNot always true. TfL in London was (before COVID) famously unsubsidised, recovering its entire costs from ticket sales and adverts. So the idea that you have to subsidise public transport is crap, the oldest, and one of the largest public transport systems in the worlds managed just fine without a subsidy for over half a decade, and is only struggling because government policy basically banned the use of public transport for a year.