Re: 鈥淧ublic transit should be free, Victoria council says,鈥� April 26.
So why shouldn鈥檛 transit be free? After all, we have free police and fire protection, free streets, free sidewalks, free parks, free garbage pickups, free highway construction, free schools and free health care.
What? You mean they aren鈥檛 free?
The question is rhetorical, of course. The question ought to be why it鈥檚 perfectly OK to pay for these other services collectively and yet something as fundamental as public transit relies on a user-pay system.
The benefits for society would be many.
Once fully developed with improved infrastructure, an expanded and heavily used 鈥渇ree鈥� transit system would allow families to get rid of that extra car, would reduce the need to constantly upgrade and maintain our highway system, would reduce the need to build expensive parking capacity at destinations and, for those who absolutely need to drive, reduce traffic congestion.
Yes, it鈥檚 going to cost money, but we鈥檙e already paying a huge amount of money supporting private transportation. This kind of long-term vision would save taxpayers a lot of money down the road and help reduce our carbon footprint at the same time.
Jim Jaarsma
Victoria
