Free transit? Merulla 'shoots for the stars'
December 19, 2007
Nicole Macintyre
The Hamilton Spectator
(Dec 19, 2007)
If the bus to work or play was free, would you leave your car at home?
Would it be worth paying $150 more in property taxes?
Hamilton city council has asked staff to explore free transit at the request of Councillor Sam Merulla, who calls the idea a "no-brainer."
"Free public transit can produce an economic benefit, an environmental benefit, as well as a social benefit," said the Ward 4 politician.
"We can't afford not to do it."
The city's transit program, including service for disabled passengers, costs some $78 million a year to carry 21 million passengers. The tax levy picks up about half the tab, while advertising, fares and other government funding cover the rest.
The city spends about $1.1 million to collect about $31 million in fares a year. If taxpayers were to collectively pick up the cost, it would mean a 6 per cent tax increase -- unless the city found another revenue source.
In the words of Flamborough Councillor Margaret McCarthy, the idea of free transit in a city with budget woes is "nonsensical."
"If it was feasible to do it, we wouldn't be raising fares," she said at last week's council meeting, pointing to the recent decision to hike fares for a second time this year. "It's just silly."
The majority of suburban councillors, whose residents pay less for transit on their tax bills because of fewer service miles in their wards, voted against Merulla's request.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger helped push the motion through after acknowledging full free transit might not be affordable, but it is still useful to explore what other communities are doing.
Merulla admits "he's shooting for the stars" with his proposal, but hopes the city will start with smaller steps, like free transit at rush hour or on smog days.
As an alternative, Councillor Bob Bratina wants the city to explore reducing fares to study the impact on ridership.
Several cities, including Halifax and Calgary, have eliminated fares on key downtown routes.
Others, like Windsor, close the fare box on days when air quality is poor.
No major Canadian city has free-transit, though the idea is gaining support among alternative transportation advocates who argue it's the next step to changing our car culture.
On top of reducing vehicle emissions and lightening traffic congestion, zero-fare systems are also touted as a socially conscious solution.
"Public transit is just that: Public. We already own it," transit advocate Dave Olsen wrote in an e-mail yesterday.
"It doesn't make any logical sense to me to ask people to pay twice for something we already own. We give almost all of our roads away for free."
The British Columbia resident has studied free-transit models around the globe and believes cities can actually save money on roads by encouraging people to take transit.
But free fares only work, he wrote, when a city has expanded its service and is ready for an influx of riders.
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/298464
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