Now how can we make public transport more affordable?
Public transit is already pretty affordable in relative terms, isn’t it?
The problem is most often the infrastructure quality making it a less attractive option.
One way would be to actually charge road users what it costs to use the roads instead of giving them away for free (inb4 gas tax mentioned - it doesn’t even come close to covering the costs).
A reasonable scheme would tax vehicles to the fourth power of their weight, as this is a good enough proxy for how much road wear that particular vehicle incurs.
This would immediately make yank tank-style vehicles unviable, and the trucking industry would basically need to transition to rail right away, but it would be a far fairer system than what’s in place today.
The money generated could be used to fund high-quality public transit infrastructure, improving the overall system for everyone involved.
In Queensland (Australia), the Labor (about as close to middle of the road as we get in terms of left / right policitcs) state government enacted 50c fares for public transport. Any form of public transport, any distance, 50c. Some fares used to be well over $5.00+ so for some people that meant public transport costs went from $50+ per week down to $5 a week.
It’s had a big impact to the number of people using public transport, though in the short term its still somewhat limited by availability - for example if I was to take public transport to work I’d need about three separate buses - but IMO that will get fixed as the uptake in usage results in the demand being recognised and additional buses and routes being provided to suit.
Unfortunately the Labor government was just replaced by a Liberal (capital L, “economic liberal”, right wing, conservative) government so I have no doubt we’re going to lose 50c fairs and get more toll roads instead.
That requires a surveillance state sadly. But the best solution is to charge (non disabled) drivers a toll fee for journeys under 3 miles, making it so they’re forced to use public transport or bikes for short journeys.
It doesn’t require any surveillance state shit? It’s literally just a “throw tax money on it” -problem. If public transport is free or at least considerably cheaper than private car, more people will use it, meaning there’s more space in cities for pedestrians and cyclists, less pollution, what else. Then sell your carbon offsets to Germany to get back your investment on public transport lmao
Kia calls the EV9’s sub-$55,000 starting price tag a “wake-up call” for the industry. Meanwhile, even more affordable Kia EV models are on the way.
Fuck me.
In fairness the EV9 is a behemoth so batteries still dominate the price. Really hoping their upcoming sedan/hatchback ev4 actually makes it here and isn’t priced similarly
Unpossible! Toyota said so!
I dunno if I’d call a $55k-$73k car affordable.
There’s not much left in the affordable category of any industry
Good point.
