• Zagorath@aussie.zoneOP
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    5 months ago

    There are legitimate cons to fare-free public transport:

    • In places with large populations where fares currently make up a large portion of revenue, removing fares reduces the total funding and may necessitate cutting routes or frequency
    • Many more new riders, in a system that is not receiving the automatic boost in funding that would come with fares, may result in being unable to expand to accommodate the new riders adequately
    • The extra funding from tax revenue would be more efficiently spent on expanding the network (routes or frequencies) rather than further subsidising the existing routes
    • Increases in “problem riders” (though the video addresses why this is overstated)

    But there are many more important pros:

    • Equity: it may have little impact on commutes to work, but opens up the ability for people to travel to other destinations much more easily
    • Lower admin costs: no need to pay fare enforcers, no need to pay for expensive tech solutions for payment systems, etc.
    • Operator safety: some studies suggest the main source of conflict between operators and passengers is at the fare box.
    • Increases ridership. Duh.

    The video makes a bunch more points than just this. The above is only a summary (and already quite a lossy summary) of roughly the 1st half of the video.

    • MysteriousSophon21@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Another huge benefit is eliminating the mental overhead of deciding “is this trip worth the fare?” which disproportionatly affects low-income riders who have to calculate every expense.