Free buses?

Today Metro Transit (the Twin Cities bus and light rail network) is increasing fares by .25 so that riders cover 1/3 of the cost of riding the bus/train.

My personal thought is that buses should be made free, paid for by tax dollars, to encourage ridership.

Everyone would be able to take advantage of the buses, but even those who continue to drive would see the benefit of (presumably) greatly reduced congestion.

The increased tax would be negated for those who chose to ride by saving them the cost of owning a car (monthly payments, repairs, oil changes, insurance, gas, etc.).

The public already subsidizes driving, by paying for roads and bridges, maintenance (and in MN, there are a LOT of potholes to fill come spring, not to mention the salt needed when ice forms)...

I guess folks out in the country wouldn't see any advantage, since they wouldn't have public transportation access, but a local sales tax increase could solve that problem.

We are already paying 2/3 of the cost anyway- I don't know how much that amounts to- but I think it would be great if we went all the way and had free buses for everyone. 

This isn't fully thought out, since I my lunch break is just about up- but I thought I would throw it out there anyway.   Thoughts?

Yeah I've had the same thought myself.  Personally I think that because buses are a relatively low-environmental impact way to get around, we should encourage people to ride them by paying for them with tax dollars.  Same thing for light rails and other public transport.  But of course that would cost a lot, and most people think "I don't ride them, so why should I have to pay for them?".

So personally I think it's a good idea, but it won't be happening anytime soon.

 Agreed that buses are great.  However, sometimes they're tough to implement in dense cities.  For example, in San Francisco where I live, it can be tough to rely on buses for transportation because they frequently run off-schedule and, even if they'd arrive on time, often don't stop for pick-ups during rush hour because they're full!  Unfortunately, this makes them an unreliable way to get around sometimes.  But people do take them!

It depends on how many more people would use public transportation if it were free.

It is rarely cheaper to use a private motor vehicle to commute, so clearly it's not exclusively an economic decision for many commuters. It's more about convenience, and reliability. People will find any excuse to not use public transport.

Personally I am happy to pay a minimal fee, especially because it seems that the general population does not support public transport. I'd rather they have more money to improve the service.

Sounds like San Francisco needs to add more buses to the line...do you have trains at all?  The Twin Cities just started their first line a few years ago, but it's been hugely popular and they are looking at expanding.

That is one thing about free buses, you would need to really up the number running, so it would cost more than just covering the 1/3 of transit taxes are currently not covering.

The way it is now, if you own a car, it does not seem cheaper to ride the bus.  You want to drive your car to make it worth all the money already tied up in it- the car itself, the insurance payments...all you save by riding the bus is the gas, and a bit on oil changes.  It's not nearly as obviously cheap to ride the bus when you have the money invested in a car and need to pay $5-6/day to ride the bus.  It's a little cheaper, but also less convenient.  But if the bus was free, then you are clearly benefiting by not paying for gas money... 

Yeah SF has some light rail type trains, and some trolleys.

It's true riding the bus and driving are pretty comparable financially.  As gas prices increase that might change, except bus fees will probably go up too.  I'd like to see more money going into public transit not only to make it cheaper, but also better.

I've been testing out a Kiwi Fuel Saving Device lately...actually the whole Huddler team piled in the car and drove to lunch two weeks ago.  It was pretty interesting because the Kiwi shows you not only what your MPG is, etc...it shows you how much you spent (or saved) on fuel.  We weren't going too far (about a mile and a half) so at first it looked like we spent way less on fuel than it would have taken all of us to ride the bus (at $1.50 per person).  But...then there was parking....and getting caught in a bit of traffic on the way back...

At the end of the day, I do think if you live in a city, public transportation is usually the best way to go.  In San Francisco, I find that I get places just as fast if not faster (I've spent at least 20 or 30 minutes looking for parking at any given time)...and the public transit system here offers a monthly pass for only $45.  At bare minimum, I ride the bus 40 times per month (to and from work) but I'd probably guess I ride at least 60 or 70 buses every month.  So in the end, it costs me about 70 cents per ride.  Parking in a lot in SF might cost you up to a dollar every twenty minutes...and a lot of street parking is limited to two hour blocks so then you run the risk of getting a ticket.  But you do sometimes have to be patient...and willing to deal with other people who are also on the bus.

In any case...now that you all know my bus riding habits, at the end of the day, while a car gives you the perception of freedom and convenience...I personally hate parking in the city so I'd pick public transit most days.

As for free buses...I do wonder how many more people would utilize public transportation.  We have Spare the Air days here and buses and trains are all free.  On those days...buses are definitely more crowded than others.  But would people change their regular routines if it was free every day? 

Yeah if you have to pay for parking that may make public transit cheaper.

For me, I've got a 15 mile commute to work each way.  In the Prius, that's 0.6 gallons, or if gas is $4/gallon, it would cost me $2.40 per day ($50-55 per month).  A monthly transit pass costs $85.  The business park I work at subsidizes half the cost, so for me it would be cheaper to take public transit, but only with that subsidy.

If the transit were free (light rails and buses), then I would use it for my commute...if I didn't already have my electric moped!  The moped is like 15 cents per day and cuts the commute time in half as compared to public transportation, so I'd stick with that.  But between public transit and driving, if transit were free, no question I'd use it.