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> Well, yeah. Public transport never going to be as sustainable as private transport, that's why the government is funding it in the first place. Is private tr
by bmoxb 3y ago
> Well, yeah. Public transport never going to be as sustainable as private transport, that's why the government is funding it in the first place.
Is private transport (i.e., the construction of roads) even financially sustainable? I did a quick search and it appears in the UK the amount brought in from vehicle tax each year is less than the amount spent on roads (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/rde01-road-construction-and-taxation https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/rde01-ro...).
- bigdollopenergy 3y agoNo. But also very much yes, if you're talking about the economy as a whole. Transport is massively profitable for the economy but not for the transport companies themselves, they simply can't capture enough of the value generated to turn a profit. If they try then the level of travel disproportionately goes down to make them lose even more money. It's why most/all of a public transport needs to publicly funded in some way and saving a penny or two per ticket on WiFi will cost far more to the economy than it saves. There is one notable exception. Japan's train system is profitable depending on how you look at it. The trains themselves are a "loss leader" in that they actually lose money per train ticket, but the company that runs the trains also owns the terminals (lots of retail space) and the commercial real estate around them, which is where the money is made. They are in effect a commercial real-estate holding company that's doing transport on the side to beef up their portfolio.
- biomcgary 3y agoI think real estate was also a large part of the financial model of the the "railroad barons" of the late 1800s in the US.