An economic perspective of free public transit!
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Public transit is not free where I live. I think there are two aspects to this matter of whether or not it should be free, or at least subsidized a little more. The video primarily addresses one of them, which is what the implications are for those with low income.
But the other aspect has to do with what it would take to get people who drive everywhere today to leave their cars at home and take transit instead for routine travel like commuting. I’ve done the math on this in terms of my personal monthly budget. In an either/or scenario of taking transit exclusively with no car ownership, there is no question that public transit is far more affordable. But once you have taken that leap and bought a car, it is no longer the slam dunk in favour of transit. What I mean by that is if you own a car but take the bus to work every day and only use the car for occasional errands that necessitate it, you will not necessarily be ahead financially at the end of the month.
At least not in my case. Some things could affect this calcuation. For example, if I had to pay for parking where I work, transit would almost certainly win. But it’s a shame when I think others are likely going through the same calculations and drawing the same conclusions, leaving ridership numbers low and streets clogged with automobiles.
What I eventually concluded was that a third option—investing in a ebike for commuting/light errands—was indeed a slam dunk budget-wise, so I have gone with that. I still need to have a car at my disposal for certain things I do, but it stays in the driveway 80% of the time, and beyond the upfront cost of purchasing the bike, its operational costs are very close to zero. So it’s basically free transportation once you’ve paid it off, and that is quite compelling to me.
I think this study is good at what it aimed to do - look at how low income people use public transportation and how that increases if there is no fare.
I’m interested in how do we get middle class folks to take more public transportation. I like to think that I’m progressive, but I’ll admit I currently lean a bit more liberal than leftist. When I look at the value of my time, public transportation doesn’t make sense. The current fare is a fraction of an hour for me, but it’s going to cost me twice as much time to take the bus versus drive a car.
One option would be a bigger stick instead of more carrots. If the monetary cost of driving my car was greater than the equivalent time value of taking the bus, I would be more inclined to take the bus. If there were other options to decrease the time cost like light rail, I would also be more likely to take public transit instead of drive. Unfortunately, there is a vocal population who has been rallying against light rail where Iive (Vancouver, WA to Portland, OR).
The time cost is certainly an important factor to consider. It’s interesting to me that my Gen Z kids have a markedly different perspective on transit vs driving in that regard. They say if you’re driving, that’s time lost, while if you are on the bus, you can be doing all sorts of things on your phone or what have you.
For me, a car commute works out to around 15-20 min if there is no traffic (a big if). The ebike is more like 25-30, but it is generally far more pleasant—at least in good weather—as I can cut through parks and trails. The bus is perhaps 45 min if I catch it right, but unlike the bike, it feels longer than it is.
One factor to consider is that if your work is of a sedentary nature, both transit and cycling factor in some exercise into your daily routine which I would say is not wasted time in that case. People who take transit are generally in better shape than people who drive everywhere, since there is an element of walking around, sometimes carrying stuff.
I wasn’t sure an ebike would give me any exercise, but I think it’s safe to say it does. In the video, they say free transit translates to 2x usage per individual. For me, that ratio coincidentally also describes the regular bike vs ebike experience. So while my old bike provided more intense workouts, the ebike provides more consistent (albeit lighter) exercise since it is really my primary transportation at this point with exception to the months of Jan and Feb when the car admittedly takes over again for the most part.
They say if you’re driving, that’s time lost, while if you are on the bus, you can be doing all sorts of things on your phone or what have you.
I don’t have a car right now (not in any rush, especially with the current market) and I’m a BIG defender of this point. On the bus, I usually have a book. I take Amtrak alot and having driven on plenty of out of town trips over the years - I LOVE getting to nap out after hopping on then getting some reading done, do some gaming, or just…stare out the damn window. Coming home I have a tendency of getting a bit drunk one way or another haha.
My thing with people’s perception of Amtrak in particular is how if they applied the same standards to driving we’d have an INFINITELY more equitable movement infrastructure. Sooooo many people I talk to swear off Amtrak forever cause that caught one delay, in a number of these folk it’s only an hour or two but that’s enough to swear it off entirely. Meanwhile those same people will sit in gridlock for an hour every day driving to work without batting an eye, or pound the steering wheel once in a multi-hour delay while traveling then are just like “that’s life.” How come one 1 hour delay is a forever deal breaker but nobody (seriously) complains about that? It’s just what they know so no level of inconvenience is too much and they’re rather be stuck in a car for 6 hours in a jam than share space with others for 2 hours on a train.
I understand the concept of riding a bus being free time to read or use the phone, but my experience for my commute has been standing room only for an hour.
I would love to be able to use an e bike to get to work, but I don’t like biking next to cars on anything more than a 30 mph road.
There are lots of infrastructure barriers to other commute options because auto makers dumped so much money into making sure it’s that way.
I understand the concept of riding a bus being free time to read or use the phone, but my experience for my commute has been standing room only for an hour.
Well at least that speaks to good ridership numbers where you are. I guess they need to add more buses, bus priority lanes, or other higher-capacity transit options.
I would love to be able to use an e bike to get to work, but I don’t like biking next to cars on anything more than a 30 mph road.
It’s worth investigating what possible routes you can take to get from A to B, as there are generally more options with a bike than a car but they are not necessarily obvious. For example, after having a close look at a satellite view, I realized that what I had assumed was a railway track was actually a decommissioned rail line that had been converted into a trail, and it actually cuts some distance off of the car route I had been taking to work.
Last night, I actually discovered a new route for getting home from band practice. I used to cut through a cemetery, but with the nights getting longer, it was starting to creep me out going through there in pitch black conditions, even though the bike has a headlight. (Cemeteries in the day time can be quite a pleasant ride though.) But I carefully surveyed an apartment complex that looked impassable. In fact, it had a foot path leading through it and beyond. This one was hard to spot on satellite since it runs through a tree tunnel.
The biggest problems are typically bridges, where you really have no other choice but to cross with the traffic. I am frequently advocating to city officials to improve cycling infrastructure along any such traffic choke points.
Free public transit would be heavenly. Idc if it takes 20 or 25% in taxes.
Where’s the article? All I see is a paragraph
No article, it’s a video
Oh. Well, the video doesn’t load then
