Your professor is teaching a class on transport policy. Write a post responding to the professor's question. Express and support your opinion and contribute to the discussion in your own words. An effective response has at least 100 words.
Dr. Ines Okonkwo
Some cities have made public transport free at the point of use, paying for it from general taxation instead of fares. Supporters argue that this raises use, cuts congestion and removes the cost of collecting fares. Critics reply that the money has to come from somewhere, that most of the new passengers switch from walking and cycling rather than from driving, and that a system with no fare revenue is the first thing cut when budgets tighten. Should city transport be free to use? Why?
Bruno
I am in favour, and the strongest reason is not congestion but reliability. Where fares are removed, boarding is faster because nobody is queuing to pay, and buses that do not stop for ninety seconds at every stop keep to their timetable. A bus you can rely on attracts drivers in a way that a cheap but unpredictable bus never does.
Marta
The boarding argument is real, but it does not need free travel. Cities that moved payment off the bus, to a card or a phone, got the same speed-up while keeping the revenue. If the benefit Bruno wants can be had without giving up the fare box, then the free-travel case has to rest on something else, and I am not sure what.