Should public transportation be free?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Buses run a tiny fraction of anywhere in the us.  It would take a lot just for basic service.  That’s not adjusting for time loss due to riders schedules, or conflicting schedules between businesses that would share an employee.

True enough. For large scale mass transit to work in a country the size of the US would require truly massive infrastructure investment, not to mention re-thinking the whole idea of moving people about.

Boru

[brewer]

My former company had 3 'specialty' buses that would pick up employees from the burbs (15 mile one way trip), it still cost but the company covered 1/2 the cost. Other outlier cities had van service that ran once an hour from 7 to 9, then 4 to 6. Unfortunately all that stopped when the company downsized.

[Pat Mustard]

Capitalism is by its very natue a system with a short term horizon and one that ignores any external costs.

As I am fond of saying, it is the best economic system apart from all the others.

If we, as a species, destroy ourselves, then how can capitalism be judged as being the "best economic system"?

It's a play on Churchill's* quip about democracy^. Read the whole of what I wrote.

*A man who is lauded for the one thing in his life he got right.
^Given he was a crypto-fascist said quip is a bit rich.

[purplepurpose]

Rich contries can afford it. Which there are even fewer and fewer.

[The Grand Nudger]

I don’t think it’s really an issue if can. We could, sure….but adding public trans on top of the rest of this (no matter the cost) won’t do anything but increase our carbon footprint.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I don’t think it’s really an issue if can.  We could, sure….but adding public trans on top of the rest of this (no matter the cost) won’t do anything but increase our carbon footprint.

If you generate the electricity from renewables, you'll decrease your net carbon footprint.

Boru

[The Grand Nudger]

Unlikely, at least in the us. The reason we don’t use buses has nothing to do with the cost of a bus pass. People imagine it taking cars off the road, but it doesn’t. Be great for people without cars, though.

I think it’s a good idea, but I doubt that it will do what people seem to expect. I’d even add that…if the us gov was going to hand out something free at point of use…I wouldn’t start with bus passes.

[Angrboda]

I guess I don't have relevant experience. We have an excellent public transportation system here. I can't reach some of the far suburbs by bus alone, but within a 5-mile bike ride away.

[Belacqua]

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/germany-sla...-save-fuel

[Fake Messiah]

Here is more on German experiment

In spring, Germany's coalition government announced that a heavily discounted nationwide travel pass — the so-called 9-euro ticket — would be made available for June, July and August. Each pass allows ticket-holders to use Germany's public transport network for one calendar month for just those €9 ($9.38).

News of the scheme, devised to cushion rising fuel and living costs, sparked excitement, yet led some to wonder whether the transport infrastructure would be able to cope with an expected spike in passenger numbers. It was significant that national rail operator Deutsche Bahn had already warned in advance that travelers should refrain from taking bicycles on trains starting from June due to a lack of space.

Radünz says the discounted travel pass was a resounding success in Berlin and Brandenburg, where many opted to take trains and buses instead of driving a car. He says "folks used the ticket on weekends, taking their kids and all their kit," heading for northern Berlin, the Spree Forest and other destinations.

But Wagner's verdict is a little more ambivalent. While he was pleased that the 9-euro ticket encouraged many more people to use public transport, he is critical of the scheme's funding: "The Transport Ministry is providing €2.5 billion over three months to compensate for the loss of revenue caused by the artificially low ticket price — and yet no money was made available for extra personnel, buses or trains." With that in mind, he does not see how the scheme can feasibly continue after August. At least not at €9 per ticket.

https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-9-euro-tr...a-62329405