4 ms·
'Free PT' is an idea that sounds good but hasn't actually been shown to solve the real problems of PT such as service quality or safety or the ability to actual
by bigDinosaur 4y ago
'Free PT' is an idea that sounds good but hasn't actually been shown to solve the real problems of PT such as service quality or safety or the ability to actually get where you need to go. I'd characterise it more as a distraction than anything else. Compounding this it means that the more people using it actually means less revenue per person which is problematic when you need to scale based on the number of people using it (basically you become entirely dependent on public revenue allocation which can really suck if your city/country has political issues with funding PT). My experience has been that when 'free PT' gets floated it's usually instead of actual infrastructural improvements since it's trivial to implement.
And yeah, all these issues exist with 'free' roads and car infrastructure too. Again, toll roads are unpopular, and free car infrastructure is a vote winner. Doesn't mean it's actually a good idea at a systems level.
- kjkjadksj 4y agoOne theory is if its free, more people might hop on the bus and use it for a block or two since they know its free and they don’t have to keep up a current transit pass. This basically catches the car users who might occasionally use transit but aren’t familiar with the pass system as it is. Free fares aren't even so much for low income people, as at least in my city low income people already have their fares subsidized. The more people using transit the more likely ballot initiatives pass even if they only occasionally use transit.