The article What If Riding the Bus Were Free by Andrea Bennett offers a perspective on the benefits of society’s transition to free transportation service. The paper contains nine headings under which it discusses various issues of free travel – current programs, social conditions (invalidity, race, gender), experiments, and tax deductions. Bennett primarily points to social justice and government budgets as the main positive aspects of the transition to free travel (Bennet 2). The author points out that the existence of tolls, even taking into account existing discount programs, does not solve the problem of economic and social disadvantage. In particular, he cites the example that disability benefits are 25% less than post-covid benefits (Bennet 3). While both are severe, the opportunity for the reduced fare is the same, which, among other things, is difficult to access because of the long processing time.
An essential section of the article is the question of how the fare will be implemented. Citing other authors, Bennett suggests that taxation is a good possibility (Bennet 4). Using state budget data as an example, the author points out that the ability to maintain transportation drops due to a decline in traffic due to a lack of funds for fares. This causes transportation to cease to be comfortable, and people continue to give it up. Although more than $1 billion is allocated for transportation services, the return to the budget is not fully realized (Bennet 5). As a result, people go back to bicycles, personal cars, and cabs, which exacerbate traffic.
The campaign supporting the idea of free-riding is called All on Board. It was initially created in 2018, and support has gradually grown with trends in politics and economics and developments in transportation systems (Bennet 5). Viveca Ellis is now the current spokesperson for the Single Mothers Alliance and is among the first to promote free transportation options. Ellis points out that thanks to All on Board, the first results have been obtained: for example, children under 12 can use public transportation for free throughout the province (Bennett 6). Furthermore, the experiments conducted with the connection of the possibility of such a fair show that it is an effective and necessary solution for the city’s functioning. Ellis points out that the experiments demonstrate how social and economic equality principles are implemented using transportation as an example (Bennett 6). The section concludes with a suggestion for ways to integrate experiments into policy.
Sections of particular importance in the article are the possibilities of electric cars and finding other solutions. Bennett points out that a shift to zero-emission vehicles would be suitable for the climate but not enough to help low-income and low-mobility populations get around safely (Bennett 7). In addition, switching to electric vehicles does not solve the problem of affordability because it also takes too much money to depreciate the vehicles. Victor Couture ” wouldn’t it be a ‘game changer’ in B.C. in terms of encouraging transit use and lowering emissions” (Bennett 8)? He believes there are more profitable means of transportation, but he is willing to switch to transit if the money is spent on improving it.
The final section of the article offers a look at intercity travel. Bennett reveals the details of commuting using the example of the Sunshine Coast, from which it takes complicated, costly routes to get to another point (Bennett 10). The article points out that the example of intercity travel reveals how unfair the existence of tolls is, limiting the opportunities for different categories of people.
Work Cited
Bennet, Andrea. “What If Riding the Bus Were Free?” TheTyee.ca, 2021.