9 comments
@chu @humantransit IMO vastly more important than being free/low-cost, the service's quality should justify itself to the users -- availability and quality also drive demand! Many people choose to drive a car because public transport is unreliable or don't go where they need/want to go. @o_andras @chu @humantransit Yes. This, 100%. For most destinations in the UK, it's cheaper for me to drive than to take a train, even if I'm alone. When there are two or more of us, it's not even close. Driving is also much more reliable. I want that fixed, and I'm prepared to pay more tax to make it happen. In Canada, there's a transit penalty. It takes longer, is not reliable, and costs a fortune. Taking the train to Ottawa from Toronto cost me $700 for my family of four last year. It would have been cheaper to rent a car. But my federal government insists they are the most pro environment party. My prime minister marched with Greta Thunberg no less! (Then approved an off shore oil well within weeks). @bdatlrides @o_andras @chu @humantransit Except that the promise of public transport really is all three — price through economies of scale, speed through use of infrastructure better than regular roads (bus lanes, train tracks); ease of use is where where is some justification for falling down, but things like the London tube show it can be done right. I was working afternoon/evenings for a while. Work was only a couple of miles away. I could take the bus to get there, a few bucks and ten minutes plus twenty minutes waiting. When I was done my shift, I couldn't get the same bus, because it stopped running by then. Well--the direction I needed to go stopped, the other direction was still running. *shrug* I had to get a cab home every night, which cost me over an hour's pay (before taxes). @chu @humantransit I'm ok with no subsidy, what I need is a path to do my errands on that isn't shared with two ton masses of metal driven by tired and stressed people |
@chu @humantransit any kind of bike should be subsidized. But I would settle for a tax rebate of €2000/ yr for any person over 16 that does not own a car.