Should Public Transport Be Free?

The answer is “NO”, because public transit can never be Free.

It can, however, be fully-funded.

Read an article I wrote back in 2016, or thereabouts, here .

An article in today’s ABC news is headed “ As the cost of living continues to rise, should public transport be free in Australia? ”

Making public transit Fully Funded removes every argument about “expensive” or “cheap”

Fully Funded public transit removes the need for qualifications such as “Tourists however, or anyone visiting the country, still have to pay.”. By and large tourists can already walk in your parks, read books in your library, ask questions with a police officer, walk on your footpaths or sidewalks.

Fully Funded public transit removes objections such as “…it was more expensive for his family of five to catch public transport into the city and home again, compared to driving and paying for parking or using a ridesharing service.”

As for “some experts say the benefits are quite limited.”, those experts are wrong. Removing ANY hurdle to the use of public transit is a benefit to the pubolic at large, tourists, commuters, and car-drivers.

Note that expressions such as “The main benefits would be to young people and students, the elderly and those on low incomes across Australia.” Are misleading. Such expressions try to suggest that because a specified group of people benefit, that benefits are minimal. This is nit true. Firther up in the article the point is made that some drivers in outer suburbs may still have ti drive; but then that implies that some other drivers will drive onloy to the nearest station and avoid the rest of their drive. Beware always of negative statements.

"That's $900 million that taxpayers would have to come up with every year if it was free," he told ABC Radio Melbourne. This statement is false. The $900 million that comes from The State, where do they think the state gets its money? That’s right: from the tax payer. The taxpayer is already contributing towards that $900 million; they just don’t see it or get to know about it.

Nothing is truly free; your bus-driver has to put food on the table to feed his family.

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