Would free transit be worth it?

ISSUES — With the regularity of a City bus, the idea of free public transit comes up for discussion. With equal regularity, the door swings shut on it, as it was at a Kamloops City council meeting Tuesday.

Free transit is a nice idea, but there’s no such thing. The biggest argument from those who reject eliminating bus fares is that people who don’t ride buses shouldn’t have to subsidize those who do.

In practice, they already do subsidize bus riders, of course, because bus fares alone don’t provide enough revenue to cover the costs. The question, then, isn’t whether to subsidize, but rather, how much?

So, would dropping bus fares to zero really create the green benefits that advocates think?

A Florida study is blunt: “The suggestion to offer transit on a fare-free basis is almost always well intended. However, while fare-free policy might be successful for small transit systems in fairly homogenous communities, it is nearly certain that fare-free implementation would not be appropriate for larger transit systems.”

The study says there have been few fare-free experiments with entire bus systems. Those that have been done show that free buses increase ridership.

But the ridership demographics were disappointing. Instead of luring drivers out of their cars to decrease traffic congestion and air pollution, the Florida study says they attracted joyriding younger passengers, many of whom engaged in “vandalism, graffiti and rowdiness.”

“Vehicle maintenance and security costs escalated due to the need for repairs associated with abuse from passengers. The greater presence of vagrants on board buses also discouraged choice riders and caused increased complaints from long-time passengers.”

The study also concluded that increases in ridership resulted in crowding and an increase in complaints.

In other words, people value what they have to pay for. One Florida bus system found that when it replaced no-cost fares with 25-cent fares, abuse of the system dropped and vandalism went down 90 per cent.

But there are those who think the advantages of free transit are worth considering. Erik Olin Wright, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin, said it’s not just about cost. He cited what he called “positive externalities” — reduced air pollution, getting people to their jobs and increasing employment, less congestion and better health.

“Of course public transportation has to be paid for, but it should not be paid for through the purchase of tickets by individual riders — it should be paid for by society as a whole through the one mechanism we have available for this, taxation.”

Taxing the general population for free transit shouldn’t be considered a subsidy, he said, but an”optimal allocation of our resources.”

While free bus rides may be hard to find in North America, it’s different in Europe, where several cities and towns have put them in place. The city of Hasselt in Belgium abolished bus fares in 1997, increasing ridership by 13 times. Cities in France, Poland and Greece have done likewise, as well as in Australia and China.

The website farefreebc is largely dedicated to promoting farefree transit in B.C. as a way to reduce dependence on oil.

At a workshop on Tuesday, Kamloops City council discarded the idea of free transit but favoured rounding off bus fares to $2 because it’s easier for people to use toonies in the fareboxes. That would mean adult riders who pay $2.25 now would pay less but seniors would have to pay 25 cents more.

A report from staff said there’s been a relatively constant increase in service hours over the last 10 years, along with costs, which have almost doubled. Revenue from bus fares has gone up 40 per cent.

Age-based fare discounts are going out of style. “The single cash fare is becoming a popular choice for numerous transit systems across Canada…” the report said, because of simplicity, fewer fare disputes and an incentive for riders to switch to prepaid products.

It offered several fare options, including increases or a decrease. Eliminating fares entirely would cost about $3.15 million per year. That’s $8,750 a day.

The report confirms the experience elsewhere — ridership increases when fares are eliminated but it’s not necessarily the right kind of ridership. “There are no examples in B.C. that can be used to provide a clear prediction,” it says, though it suggests each route would be affected differently.

There’s been some success with free-fare zones, the report says. Whistler, for example, has a specified zone within the village where buses are free. Businesses help pay the cost.

“Research also indicates that jurisdictions that have created free fare service find it extremely difficult to then later go back to a user pay system,” the City’s report says.

Council will make a decision on what to do about fares later but, for the forseeable future, free transit service doesn’t appear to be arriving any time soon.