Comment 14912

By joejoe (anonymous) | Posted December 01, 2007 at 11:25:58

Transit should be 'free' (as in, paid for by our general taxes).

Can you imagine what a statement that would make, if Hamilton were to become the first city in North America (perhaps even the world?) to provide free transit for all?

What, I wonder, is the basis for non-user fee government services?

Well it seems to me services like roads, schools, the military, healthcare etc, need to meet a certain set of criteria to be covered by general taxes:
1. - they must serve the greater good, benefit everyone. Check, transit does that.
2. - they may be subject to general taxes because it is not practical to administer a user fee systems. Even though we pay for our transit - how much of the costs are associated with collecting and processing the fees? I'm sure a significant cost saving could be made by eliminating the fare collection systems (and, no, jobs would not necessarily be lost, they could be re-assigned to providing a better service).

Of course one of the risks is that 'free' transit would become even worse than it is now. There would need to be some sort of committment towards meeting transit targets. Like healthcare, transit should be higher on the public's radar.

After creating free transit we should then flip the current equation around - we should CHARGE for roads. I know we pay for roads already, with car stickers and general taxes, but if we want to shape the public's commuting behaviour toward transit we have to offer a disincentive to driving, while offering an incentive for transit (in the shape of free service). So we toll road use and use the money to fund transit.

Surely the time has come to make this flip. Alas, methinks Hamilton would be just about the last city to propose it :(

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