Free transit ‘pie in the sky’ or are benefits worth the increase in taxes?

EDITORIAL — On the face of it, free public transit seems like such a good idea.

Increase the number of bus riders, thereby cutting greenhouse gases, making the city healthier, uncluttering the road system, and make transportation easier for everyone no matter what their socio-economic circumstances.

As a letter from the Kamloops Health Coalition told City council Tuesday, “Many of us believe this would improve the quality of life in Kamloops for all of us and especially for many seniors and those with respiratory problems.”

It said many people on pensions can’t afford the high cost of operating their own cars, or are unable to drive. Seniors currently account for a sixth of the Kamloops population and numbers will continue to grow.

“Many cities in the world have free public transit in order to lessen congestion in downtown areas, lessen demand for parking in the downtown core, and improve the quality of the air citizens have to breathe.”

At the least, the health coalition urged council, consider some free public transit during rush hours or on particular days of the week. Council was surprisingly receptive to at least talking about the idea.

They didn’t exactly embrace it but they were willing to do some noodling over it, deciding it was worthy of a discussion at a workshop. Those are the sessions in which council receives a report from staff on a concept and has a free-wheeling discussion about whether it has enough merit to do something with it.

Mayor Peter Milobar had no interest in the workshop idea. “I don’t need to workshop it,” he said, because the idea has been brought forward many times before and always rejected.

Coun. Tina Lange dismissed it as ‘pie in the sky.”

And others were tepid to the idea of universal free bus rides because of the inevitable increase to property taxes. Coun. Deiter Dudy, for example, didn’t like the idea of free transit for all but thought seniors should get a bigger break on fares. Even Coun. Donovan Cavers, who had unsuccessfully just proposed free transit on the handful of days in a year in which airshed pollution results in advisories, called totally free transit “extreme” but thought council should look at making it free for seniors.

Both he and Dudy supported workshopping it. And Marg Spina thought it was worth exploring the idea of tying transit directly into the payment of annual property taxes, attaching a free bus pass to the tax bill.

All this came after Coun. Arjun Singh suggested council shouldn’t just dismiss the idea of free transit out of hand. If council was going to look at a proposal for free transit based on air quality it should be willing to go whole hog and talk about free transit, period.

Free transit isn’t actually free — somebody has to pay for it. Next year, the Kamloops bus system will cost more than $16 million to operate. About $5.2 million of that will be paid for by City taxpayers, the rest by revenue and a provincial contribution. Without the fares, the City’s share would jump to about $8.62 million. City staff estimate fare revenue next year at $3.4 million.

There’s another side to the cost equation, too. Research shows free transit means “significant” ridership increases, which would create demand for more service, hence bigger transit budgets.

“Given the significant financial implications, staff do not recommend providing free public transit in Kamloops at this time,” said development and engineering services director Marvin Kwiatkowski.

Still, there are those countering advantages to free transit, including a boost in consumer spending and quality of life, reduction of unhealthy particulates and traffic noise, less congestion, and reductions in global warming and in the depletion of the oil supply. One study even found that violence against bus drivers by passengers was reduced by 90 per cent with free transit because conflicts overpayment of fares disappeared.

The issue — and the pros and cons — is a lot more complex that simply brushing it off as costing too much. Sure, it’s come up before, and while veteran council members have previously rejected it, this new edition of council hasn’t had the discussion. Maybe that’s the benefit of new blood.

Council needs to sit down and have a thorough talk about the benefits and drawbacks of free transit, with an open mind, then make an informed and thoughtful decision.