harllee
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Next year my wife and I will officially become old fogies so will have bus passes for fare free travel over the whole country
What country?
Towns and Cities with Free Public Transportation
- Thread starter harllee
- Start date
What country?
rk911
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
yup...”free” stuff provided by “the govt” usually is expensive.
You’ve made your point. Why not let the OP continue with her thread discussion.
To all - it’s not free, just no direct charge to the user. That’s been clarified, so why not get back on topic?
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Red Badger
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Well, in defense of the "contention," this forum is somewhat curmudgeon central.
We did enjoy the free electric buses in Chattanooga a while back.
Now, get off my lawn!
harllee
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
OP here in my town the municipal government looks closely at ridership and eliminates or reroutes bus routes that are underutilized. We have the opposite problem--many of our buses are too full. The main complaint I hear is that we do not have enough buses or routes to accommodate everyone who wants to ride.
As for the issue of my taxes "subsidizing" bus riders--I am in favor of that. The more people that ride the bus the better--less crowded roads and less pollution. Isn't that what taxes are all about--we pay taxes for government services that help the public as a whole even though we personally don't use the service. For example, I don't have children in school but gladly pay taxes so we can have good schools.
harllee
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Ironic that you were employed by a 919 call center, weren't you paid by "the govt"? 919 calls are a great example of something provided by the government "free" that is a great benefit but I guess I could argue that I don't like "free" 919 calls because I have never had to call 919.
Hey harlee.....
I think we agree that the public bus and the public schools are good...I think we disagree on how much $$$ is enough. No worries.
CardsFan
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Back on topic:
While not Fare-free, our small city has a very low cost bus system ($.50 under 62, $.25 if over). We don't use it (not convenient), but we have a friend who cannot drive anymore (had a stroke). He uses it often. It goes right past his house. He can go to the local grocery and local Walmart (or the casino). Sometimes he needs to change buses, but that's OK, he has plenty of time.
Most users are low income, or cannot drive, like our friend.
Serves a good purpose. Of course it is subsidized, but I think for the greater good.
While not Fare-free, our small city has a very low cost bus system ($.50 under 62, $.25 if over). We don't use it (not convenient), but we have a friend who cannot drive anymore (had a stroke). He uses it often. It goes right past his house. He can go to the local grocery and local Walmart (or the casino). Sometimes he needs to change buses, but that's OK, he has plenty of time.
Most users are low income, or cannot drive, like our friend.
Serves a good purpose. Of course it is subsidized, but I think for the greater good.
Back Off Topic:
Check my math......I looked up the Asheville NC city bus statistics:
2,000,000 passengers a year
$10,200,000 annual funding from the govt
So that's $5.10 per passenger, right?
The fare is a buck, so that means it costs $6.10 for every passenger?
I looked up the average uber fare and the "internet" said 95 cents per mile.....That subsidy and fare for the bus, if given to uber, would carry the passenger almost 6.5 miles.
There ought to be a better way to get people to where they want to go instead of a government subsidized bus rolling down the road on the bus schedule. It appears to me to be inefficient.
Not sure what would work better but the economics of it create an opportunity......
Check my math......I looked up the Asheville NC city bus statistics:
2,000,000 passengers a year
$10,200,000 annual funding from the govt
So that's $5.10 per passenger, right?
The fare is a buck, so that means it costs $6.10 for every passenger?
I looked up the average uber fare and the "internet" said 95 cents per mile.....That subsidy and fare for the bus, if given to uber, would carry the passenger almost 6.5 miles.
There ought to be a better way to get people to where they want to go instead of a government subsidized bus rolling down the road on the bus schedule. It appears to me to be inefficient.
Not sure what would work better but the economics of it create an opportunity......
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I think that your stats show that the cost of government funding per passenger per year is around $5.10. These are annual costs without regard to distance traveled. You then say that this subsidy and the $1 fare would permit a passenger to take one 6.5 mile trip on Uber (which is a lot less than I have paid for shorter trips, but OK). I think that the better approach would be to look at passenger miles on the system but even looking at it your way, I'd say that a well used bus system comes out better.
I confess that I am a real fan of public transit and it is one of my highest priorities when I consider where to live in retirement. There will come a time when I should not be driving and I hope that public transit will be there so I can continue as many of my daily activities as possible. I love hearing about cities, especially smaller ones, that have robust transit, so thanks OP for the topic.
br
England. In Scotland it is over 60 so my wife’s sister in a town close to Edinburgh has had a bus pass for 6 years already. Like us she has a regular service stopping close to her house so now hardly uses her car at all. It’s certainly a good way to relieve city congestion when most seniors get the bus.
Winemaker
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I don't use public transportation; it would take me 20-30 to get to transit station. In 30 minutes, I can be downtown in my own car/truck. My sister uses it to get to work, she lives a 5 minute walk from a station and leaves at 5:00 AM to get to work by 7:45 AM, she pays full fare with a quarterly pass. My brother uses it to get to work, he live 5-7 minutes by car, he get a "free" pass as it is a perk from his university research job.
Stormy Kromer
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I visited Denver about a decade ago and stayed downtown. I was impressed by the free trolley that went back and forth through the city, it made travel very easy and affordable. We were able to visit many places and businesses that we would not have even if we had our own car.
CuppaJoe
Moderator Emeritus
Hi all.
Years ago, former Mayor Gavin Newsom wanted free Muni (City and County of San Francisco transit system) for all. One of the reasons was that it is so hard to collect & process fares, especially the ones in cash; also boarding & transit time is much faster without fare payments. It didn’t happen.
After Gavin abandoned the City for Sacramento, (now late) Mayor Lee set up a system for permanent free Muni passes for seniors of “low to moderate” income. So now anyone over age 65 with income less than $86,200 (1-person household) qualifies. IIRC, Mayor Lee was responding to constant media coverage of the high cost of living and the departure of many seniors and lower-income residents. When it went into effect, he said he wanted seniors to stay.
Years ago, former Mayor Gavin Newsom wanted free Muni (City and County of San Francisco transit system) for all. One of the reasons was that it is so hard to collect & process fares, especially the ones in cash; also boarding & transit time is much faster without fare payments. It didn’t happen.
After Gavin abandoned the City for Sacramento, (now late) Mayor Lee set up a system for permanent free Muni passes for seniors of “low to moderate” income. So now anyone over age 65 with income less than $86,200 (1-person household) qualifies. IIRC, Mayor Lee was responding to constant media coverage of the high cost of living and the departure of many seniors and lower-income residents. When it went into effect, he said he wanted seniors to stay.
REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
CuppaJoe
Moderator Emeritus
Welcome back from your sabbatical.
Nine years between posts is a very long time...
Hello, mayor of the forum.
It’s like the old joke about the child who didn’t speak until he was 4-yrs.old. Said he had no complaints until then.
Nine years! Time flies when you’re enjoying not going to work.
morriss003
Recycles dryer sheets
Melbourne, Australia has free public transportation in the Central Business District. In Madrid, Spain it's not free, but it is extremely cheap for seniors.
harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I have no idea if any of the places I frequent has free public transport. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's not. I never even consider public transportation, figuring it's too inconvenient. Last time I had to resort to it was back in the early 90s when my car was in the shop for 6 months. DC Metro area, lived in suburban VA and worked in suburban MD. I had to take a bus to the Metro, change trains in DC at Metro Center, train to Silver Spring MD, then a bus to the office. If I got really lucky I was able to catch an express bus and the commute was only 90 minutes, but 9 out of 10 times I got stuck on the local, which pushed it out to 2 hours. Each way. This for a trip that would take 30-45 minutes in my car.
So unless I had a bus that stopped within a block of me and took me pretty much right where I want to go, I'd never consider it. Free or not. Even retired my time has value.
So unless I had a bus that stopped within a block of me and took me pretty much right where I want to go, I'd never consider it. Free or not. Even retired my time has value.
This would have been a godsend when it was my mother with 2 little girls and no car (until I was 16) and barely making it.
tenant13
Full time employment: Posting here.
The history of public transportation in US is actually quite interesting: https://www.vox.com/2015/5/7/8562007/streetcar-history-demise . It seems to me that what killed it was free market. If you look around the world public transportation that functions well is in most cases subsidized - I mean people get taxed to get it running.
rick55
Recycles dryer sheets
Our youngest son went to Clemson (go Tigers!) for his doctorate. The university provides free bus service to the city. Here on LI our university provides overcrowding on our roads and houses with illegal apartments.
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UnrealizedPotential
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Even if someone came up with a brilliant plan that could be duplicated in a lot of cities to help fix the public transportation issue, you would have big money fighting it. Number one would be the automakers.
Also, the big airlines would fight it. Why would the automakers and airlines in this country be in favor of high speed train transportation? The answer is they wouldn't. It would hurt their business.
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tenant13
Full time employment: Posting here.
Well, yes of course. It's free market again. And a dash of corruption that kills whatever regulations are unfavorable to one group but pushes others. FCC and high speed internet is another good example of the unbelievable ****ery we have deal with in US when it comes to pretty much basic services. I am constantly reminded about it when I get off the plane in places like Myanmar and am able to purchase a temp SIM card that provides me with fast internet for a few $.
Having said that, Japan has an amazing system of high speed trains AND a whole bunch airlines that are somehow able to co-exist. I spent there 3 months last year and used both to move around. It all works seamlessly. As to the automakers; there are ways to deal with them. Either by imposing fees for driving in big cities (London, NY soon) or imposing insanely high taxes & fees (https://dollarsandsense.sg/no-nonsense-explanation-on-why-cars-in-singapore-are-so-expensive/)
Nine years! Time flies when you’re enjoying not going to work.
Doesn't it just
Welcome back.
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