Toronto made public transportation free for children under 12 years of age 3 years ago.
Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
31–40 of 236 posts
Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#32Hong Kong makes 2 billion a year on public transportation. They did that by giving the land around the station to the transportation agency, so they lease it out long term, and that pays for all the trains and operations. They charge a token fee for using public transportation. I'd prefer to see real public support, rather than a business/profit justification for lower fares, but in the current greed-valued world I'l…
So capitalism tells them what to do: Sell that deficit train business and go fully into real estate :-)
Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#33Hong Kong makes 2 billion a year on public transportation. They did that by giving the land around the station to the transportation agency, so they lease it out long term, and that pays for all the trains and operations. They charge a token fee for using public transportation. I'd prefer to see real public support, rather than a business/profit justification for lower fares, but in the current greed-valued world I'l…
So capitalism tells them what to do: Sell that deficit train business and go fully into real estate :-)
They make a better profit than a typical landlord because train service improves the value of the real estate.
Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#34Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
completely free means you have one less legal reason to kick out the bad kind of homeless.
Unlike The MTA the Paris metro shuts down at 1AM. So no one is camping out on the platform, for long. And last time I was there the controllers were scanning passes quite frequently.
> So no one is camping out on the platform, for long.
I've never been in the Paris métro after it shut down, but are you saying the homeless people camping in some stations in the evenings, wrapped in their sleeping bags, get up at 1 a.m. and file out? I somehow doubt that.
Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#36Sounds like a good idea. Transport for London already does this.
It is free also in Rome for kids under 10 years
Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
completely free means you have one less legal reason to kick out the bad kind of homeless.
kind of a strawman. Maybe one could also find better ways to give shelter to homeless. And for the bad kid there are other ways than using tickets for that.
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Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#38Hong Kong makes 2 billion a year on public transportation. They did that by giving the land around the station to the transportation agency, so they lease it out long term, and that pays for all the trains and operations. They charge a token fee for using public transportation. I'd prefer to see real public support, rather than a business/profit justification for lower fares, but in the current greed-valued world I'l…
So capitalism tells them what to do: Sell that deficit train business and go fully into real estate :-)
Capitalism helped by a government that doesn't grant land leases longer than 75 or 99 years... so it can give it to the transportation agency.
Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#39Why not make it just free for everybody? Public transportation typically has profit margins of -50% to -90% anyway... just take it to -100% and get a huge boost in ridership! (And probably save some expenses relating to collecting payment/enforcement.)
previous studies done showed that making it free did not result in significant uptick in usage[1]. It really comes down to, does it go where you want from where you want when you want and all this on a timely basis. Hence the big reason buses always win over rail as they can adapt to changing needs. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/01/why-can...
> the big reason buses always win over rail
A bus from where I live to London takes about 5.5 hours, compared to 2 hours on a train. I can also get a meal served on a train and work comfortably at a large table, which I can't do a bus. Busses definitely don't always win over trains. I think they hardly ever do.
Re: Paris Will Make Public Transportation Free for Kids
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you sure about public transportation being free in Lille? (I've been there often and I've never heard of that.)
I'm not entirely sure.. my memories are fuzzy.
When I was in Lille several years ago, you were supposed to buy a ticket but it really wasn't enforced at all. The ticket machines were to the side of the train entry, and there were no turnstiles or anything like that. My first time I got on without even realizing I was supposed to pay.