Free Public Transport

No I’m not mad. Public Transport should be free. For the time being I will concentrate on rail. In NSW, only 22% of the running costs for rail comes from the travelling public. 53% already comes from taxpayers and the rest from other revenue like property rental, interest, access fees etc….On top of this, Railcorp recorded a surplus of $194M in 07/08. So to have free rail transport we only need to find the 22% received from passengers. Here’s how we can do it (and do it easily).

Free rail transport does not require ticket machines and turnstiles. This would represent a huge saving in maintenance and consumables on the current system. It was recently reported that in Victoria they spent $1.3BILLION on a new ticketing system. NSW has had similar costs imposed on it by unsuccessful ticketing systems.

Free rail transport would result in increased patronage. In Hasselt (Belgium), public transport usage went up 800% in 18 months when it become free. Of course this would mean we need more trains, drivers and other staff. Removing the requirement to collect and enforce fares results in a saving in administration of the whole public transport system. However the overall increase in the number of operational staff results in a net increase in employment by the operator. Cities with free public transport see this as a benefit as it creates employment.

International experience is that significant increases in public transport usage leads to an overall saving in the transport budget as a whole through savings in road maintenance and a decreased requirement for new or expanded roads. This results in an overall saving in the total “cost” of the transport system in a city or region as a proportion of total wealth. Furthermore, increased use of public transport results in decreased congestion and improved journey times for those who by choice or necessity continue to use cars. It also speeds up urban freight. Road congestion costs upwards of $12MILLION per day in Sydney alone and is a growing problem, congestion reduces the efficiency of urban freight and commercial distribution, and improving the efficiency of urban freight is crucial to the international competitiveness of Australia’s trade and commerce.

The use of motor vehicles during peak times is associated with a range of adverse environmental and social effects which are of increasing and justifiable concern to the community. There are obvious environmental benefits from more commuters using public transport, including air quality and noise. The benefit would be even greater in Sydney if the NW and SW suburbs heavy railines are built.

The cost of transport systems is not confined to the costs of building and maintaining transport infrastructure and operating the system. Costs also include the economic costs of road accidents. Overall, the health system benefits from a lower incidence of asthma and other respiratory problems because of decreased air pollution. Furthermore, a major impact to health is the reduction in road accidents. The experience in Hasselt (Belgium) was that the number of road accidents and more importantly the number of road fatalities decreased about 80% following the introduction of free public transport. This resulted in significant savings to the health system and emergency services. The savings to the health budget alone more than offset the cost of providing free public transport. There would also be savings in the insurance sector via less payouts.

The increase in patronage creates commercial opportunities at railway stations from vending machines and retail outlets. There is a high potential of growth in retail sales at major stations due to increase patronage. Free public transport has the potential to attract new businesses to a city and region. In the case of Hasselt, the city was able to attract over 100 new businesses in the first year.

Household expenditure on fuel and other car-related expenses is significantly reduced. As a result the higher disposable incomes (as a result of savings) tend to stimulate the local economy. Cities with increased public transit usage have greater wealth (gross regional product per capita) than cities with heavy car use and percentage of wealth spent on commuting.

Commuters who use a frequent, efficient and low cost public transport system arrive at work more relaxed, resulting in increased productivity, reduced stress and reduced absenteeism. This effect is even more significant where public transport is very low cost or free. The experience in Hasselt was that the improved productivity of the workforce was a major factor in attracting new business to the city.

Free public transport can be a significant driver for tourism. In several European cities, tourist numbers increased around 30% after the introduction of free public transport. Free public transport could be a significant factor in attracting visitors to major events such as the Sydney Festival.

Of course all is not rosey and there are some disadvantages:

Initial outlay: Initial capital outlay to increase the size of the transport fleet to meet increased demand.

Cleaning: there tends to be an increase in the amount of rubbish at major transport nodes. This can be mitigated by provision of additional rubbish and recycling bins, more frequent emptying of bins and more frequent cleaning.

Employment: In some international cases, there was an initial downturn in the taxi industry and minor job losses in motor vehicle service industries, mainly at petrol stations. However this was offset by immediate growth in other areas. In the medium term (3+ years) there was overall growth in the taxi industry as a result of increased tourism and new business attracted to the city, and overall growth in employment in the city.

*Much of the info of this page has come from railpage.com.au