It’s time to start making mass transit free!
Though it might seem counterintuitive, city governments have much to gain by letting riders off the hook
Henry Grabar ~ Sunday, Jul 27, 2014 08:00 AM CST
In March, when a cloud of particle pollution settled across Western Europe, Paris took a radical approach. The Ile-de-France region introduced alternate driving days (odd-number plates one day; evens the next) and eliminated fares on local trams, buses, trains and subways.
Traffic dropped by nearly 20 percent in Paris; congestion on the Périphérique ring road fell by 30 percent at rush hour; large-particle pollution fell by 6 percent. Measured by the impact on the roadways, the emergency measures worked as intended.
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And yet, Paris would have been a valuable case study. The consequences of eliminating transit fares remain surprisingly obscure. Can a fare-free policy transform a regional transportation picture? Can it pay for itself? Or is it merely a publicity gimmick that inflicts needless financial woes on local transit agencies?
Many people reject the idea out of hand, saying free rides are a problem, not a solution. But “free” transit, of course, is only as free as public libraries, parks and highways, which is to say that the financial burden is merely transferred from individual riders to a municipal general fund, a sales tax or local businesses and property owners. A free ride policy represents the culmination of a long shift from thinking of transit as a business sector — one that was quite profitable in its heyday — to considering it an indispensable public service ...
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= new reply since forum marked as read
transfers last about 3 hours & are only good going the same direction. I buy a coupon book & get 10 for $20.
I like this idea!
http://www.treehugger.com/culture/do-30-air-squats-and-get-free-subway-ride-moscow.html
Russia is pulling out all the stops for the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics, but they’ve now taken it to another level. Apparently, having fit athletes to represent the country isn’t enough. In order to encourage Russian citizens to get in better shape, the government has come up with an unusual incentive: commuters in Moscow will receive a free subway ticket, which costs 30 rubles or $0.92 USD, if they can perform 30 air squats in front of special automated transit machines that can tell if you’re cheating.
