Broader free transit would require senior governments to replace lost fare revenue, Reimer said, because transit agencies are already under funding pressure and cannot absorb free fares while also being expected to maintain or expand service.
IMO, all indigenous people living in the Translink area should have the option to sign up for a compass card with free fares. That’s a maximum of 63,000 people across an area with transit supporting a population of 3 million. How much fare revenue are they going to lose? There should also be more transit subsidies paid for by municipal taxes. “I don’t use transit and so shouldn’t have to pay for it” misses the point — the community does better as a whole when access to transportation is available to all.
Always kills me how roads are deemed a public good but transit isn’t. Especially given how wildly subsidized roads are.
We should reframe the question as, how much would you want to pay in taxes to have 10%, 20%, 50% fewer drivers on the road between you and the place in the city you want to be?
I use transit a few times a year and drive once a week. I would absolutely pay from my property tax for fewer drivers on the road. The cost is unfortunately not reducible to some % fewer drivers on the road; that’d be more the specific project or vehicle for change, of which transit is one (of hopefully many)…
P.S. take it from the cop budget that eats half the budget. And put me on that tesseract list already!
It’s true I can’t convert a given amount of money into a fixed percentage of reduced traffic, I can only give estimates for each project in a particular region.
You also correctly mention the point I’m trying to drive home (pun intended), that funding alternatives to driving benefits drivers too. Whereas wider highways only create more traffic on existing unwidened roads and incur higher road maintenance costs for benefits that quickly disappear after opening.
Transit should be free for everyone
