Free Public Transit: Connecting some important dots

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Connecting some important dots

Cheap oil is gone. Every day the mix of oil on the market is a little more expensive. This is because every day it takes more energy to get oil - falling net energy.
Complex economy, especially car-dependence, is no longer sustainable.
Financial system is being propped up by debt and money-creation.
Capital formation has stopped.
The only way to get more capital is to take from other countries by war.
Or take from the people by austerity and high unemployment.

Free is Cheaper

How is free transit cheaper? Don't you have to make up for lost fare revenue? The answer is that your city will save so much money in other areas, and quality of life will improve so much that you will get back much more than the lost fares. Some examples are listed below. If you want to see specific numbers, see our spreadsheet here.

Increased return on investment. Public transit involves large fixed costs. When fares are gone, there are more riders per vehicle, getting more value from the investment.
Reduced parking costs. With free transit, fewer people will park downtown. City parking authorities can cost $180 million a year, paid by fines, which are just a tax on customers and delivery services.

Reduced traffic congestion. Studies have shown that the time lost in traffic costs urban economies hundreds of millions of dollars.
Less money exported for gasoline. A medium sized city can export 1 million dollars a day in gasoline money for cars. Free buses will reduce this considerably.
Better quality of life, priceless. In Hasselt, Belgium, when fares were removed, people in hospital started receiving more visitors.