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This is interesting and somewhat counterintuitive: “Fare-free transit is not an environmental policy. The reason is simple: It doesn’t reduce driving.” People shift trips from walking and biking but drivers keep driving.

Comments  7

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Andrew L Alger

Yeah, I saw this play out in Denver. Public transit was free for the summer to help reduce pollution. As a family without a car, this changed the way we navigated the city. A mile walk or $2.75 per adult. We would typically walk.

But if you own a car the cost is already a sunk cost. It may have hurt and been scary when you were at the dealership making the purchase but now it is built into the budget and feels free. So the choice is take a car that mostly feels free or take a free public transit. Most folks still chose the car. Until we increase the cost of other aspects of the car like parking, tolls or congestion pricing.

Vena M

It would not have occurred to me to think that free-fare bus systems would move people out of cars. like Andrew says, most people see their car as a sunk cost - at all times. why wouldn't you use the thing you perceive as already paid for that sits outside your house? People won't get out of their cars until is is considerably LESS convenient than other transit modes. unfortunately US folks overestimate the convenience of driving in the face of all sorts of evidence.
Additionally - people are snobs. Buses in the US are seen as being for poor people and there's basically nothing worse than being perceived as poor

Manqueman

I disagree. A few quick points:
Spain in 2022: dunno that relates all that well to the US or larger US metro areas.
•Shifting people from cars to mass transit is a long term project. There's payoffs down the road (no pun meant).
•Let's say buses proportionately pollute (on average) as much as the vehicles they replace. One bus system that converts to anything cleaner than conventional ICE vehicles is or over time becomes an improvement.
•Related and ignored in the study: light trains taking people from outer suburbs into cities.
•Pseudo-physics: fewer but proportionately as polluting vehicles don't suffuse the air as much as magnitudes more private vehicles.
And then there's the social aspect of people being used to being in a crowd as opposed to confined to yet another bubble.
This looks like one of those studies that generate something of a hot take by being far too narrow and limited. Real FWIW as opposed to something of much help; a glorified piece of trivia or not-so-important fun fact.

Sean K

I feel I've mentioned this in another thread and my case is purely anecdotal, but still somewhat relevant.

My son started a new school this school year - it is a 7 mile bike ride from us in Lower Manhattan. I could fairly easily take him on the subway, but then we're at the mercy of the MTA's schedule and fairly frequent delays - so I decided to get an e-Cargo bike and it's not only been a game changer in getting him to and from school, but our general lives. I call it my mini-minivan - I use it on the regular to run errands all around the city. With two batteries I can get 40 miles in the fastest mode, topping out at 28MPH and we marvel as we leave all the cars in the dust on our way into Manhattan in the morning. We own a car, but it's only used for long trips out of town as driving around NYC is just unbearable.

Richard Heppner Jr.

I think your last sentence really helps explain this phenomenon. The e-bike and the subway are both way more convenient than driving in Manhattan. Elsewhere, where there's so much car infrastructure (multiple lanes, parking), the balance between driving and biking/mass transit tips the other way.

Reply in this thread

Colter Mccorkindale

Until we can re-concentrate our cities, we're going to keep losing the transit battle. Mass transit works well in the Northeast because everything is close enough together. Everywhere else is just too spread out. I say this as someone who grew up in Arkansas and moved to New York in part because I wanted a place with mass transit. Most U.S. cities simply can't do mass transit in a way that works for large numbers of people.

Laura Paye

I want to make sure we remember that public transit is not just an environmental issue. It's much more important as a social justice issue. People who can't afford cars need to have a way that they can reliably get around town. Especially people with disabilities for whom walking or biking isn't possible.

I honestly didn't think of public transit as an environmental issue where I live because the bus ridership is almost entirely people who do not own cars anyway. I guess to the point of this article. But public transport is still so so very important.

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