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Originally Posted by Encolpius
And you imagine that driving isn't subsidized? Actually, in percentage terms the subsidy is about the same:
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Is it really a subsidy when the general population overwhelmingly gets around by car? So really, a driver that only pays for (say) 60% of the cost of roads through direct use charges, will pay the rest out of their sales, property and income taxes. The only subsidization that goes on would be from rich drivers to poor drivers. This is unlike transit, where only a small group of users use it, even though it too is paid for by the general population (who rarely use transit).
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In dollar terms, of course, in North America we spend billions more on roads than transit.
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Because roads carry 10-20x more people and infinitely more goods. But what happens when you normalize it? Calgary has a remarkably successful LRT system for its population, but also a good road network that allows most people to get around pretty easily. It's costs the City far less for a trip taken by car than a trip taken by transit. Even with decent fare recovery, the difference is 10X.
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Besides, what's the alternative to transit? Building more roads? Expanding our highways to twenty lanes? As we've learned from experience, that doesn't reduce congestion
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But it does increases trips per day and trips at peak hour. Reasons why cars and road have led to unprecedented mobility for the average person in the developed world.