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This should be for everyone. If we really want to cut omissions, reduce traffic, spend less on infrastructure, and make more walkable cities, we should tax cars more and use the funds to pay for free transit for all.
iirc NYC was spending more on enforcement of fares than the amount they were gaining by enforcing fares.
It just makes sense in every way to open the doors to all
They found the same with library fines. The amounts weren’t deterring people from not returning their books. People generally return books. The issue was that those who were hit with fines either paid them off or couldn’t. And those who couldn’t, usually needed the books more than anyone. The same can be said with public transit.
If we really want to be a functioning economy where people can afford to both live and work, giving people a reliable, affordable means of transportation is one of the first steps.
I really liked the busses in Seattle. They ran on a grid, came every few minutes, and were free
Based on the experience in my city, predictable and reliable service would go a long way toward more people using the bus.
As would routing/scheduling that gets people where they want to go without it taking 3x the time a car trip would take.
Translink spends more maintaining fare gates and the compass card system every year than the entirety of fare evasion per year. But the BC Liberals forced the system on Translink so we are stuck with it now.
Public transit is a public service... the idea that it should be self funding is a pipe dream of conservative economics and a guarantee of long-term failure. We may want some level of fare to ensure safety... and in the short term we may also need to limit demand, but we should be encouraging as much ridership as possible.
Out here in BC we have an issue with poor line coverage, station throughput and extremely infrequent feeder methods. In my neighborhood there's a half/full hour frequency bus route that's so unreliable it's pretty much better just to treat it as if it doesn't exist.
The savings on dumb token systems would cover so much. Nevermind the fact that bus drivers could concentrate on driving rather than vending.