Should public transport be Free?

As for the entire 'making public transport free' argument, why don't the Gov look into doing it for a period in the future?

Perhaps for a 2 month period over the summer. Might be worth a go to see if it alleviates the congestion any.
 
RMCF said:
I have made a few trips on Bus Eireann recently and was shocked at the expense.

€20 single from Dublin Airport to Derry. Thats shocking. And not even direct. Stops off at every dump along the way.
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Why is that shocking? How much do you think it should be?
 
As for the entire 'making public transport free' argument, why don't the Gov look into doing it for a period in the future?
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They won't because they think they can't make money out of it (although free public transport would probably ultimately be good for the economy). Even if the government tried something like this, they'd probably make a balls of it.

Actually providing decent transport to start with might help as well. There's not much to make free!
Whenever I come back from holidays, I'm always sickened at how backward Ireland is. Then I get used to it again until my next holiday.
 
RMCF said:
I have made a few trips on Bus Eireann recently and was shocked at the expense.

€20 single from Dublin Airport to Derry. Thats shocking. And not even direct. Stops off at every dump along the way.
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You wouldn't get too far on public transport in England or Scotland for the equivalent of €20.
 
Purple said:
So what?
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They have a better transport system with seamless ticketing and they're supposed to be poorer ? Its' not a communist idea to enable working tax paying people to leave the car at home and encourage them to take public transport to work. It's a sensible idea. Our government has had over 10 years in power and have planned nothing beyond getting elected. The only brave move risking votes they have done is taxi deregulation.


Purple said:
It’s probably not cheap in comparison to Tanzania either. Neither the Czech Republic nor Tanzania has our income levels or cost base so comparisons are meaningless.
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I know nothing about Tanzania. Can you explain how the public transport system over there is any better or worse than ours?

I dont need to quote the Czech republic either. I can quote a city in the USA which is doing quite well where I have also been recently. The city of Seattle where public transport is free within the city centre.
 
stir crazy said:
They have a better transport system with seamless ticketing and they're supposed to be poorer ? Its' not a communist idea to enable working tax paying people to leave the car at home and encourage them to take public transport to work. It's a sensible idea. Our government has had over 10 years in power and have planned nothing beyond getting elected. The only brave move risking votes they have done is taxi deregulation.
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Theirs was built in the communist era where costs were low, planning was nonexistent and there were no public sector unions. That said I agree with the thrust of your post.




stir crazy said:
I know nothing about Tanzania. Can you explain how the public transport system over there is any better or worse than ours?
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My comments were about the cost comparison. I'm sure theirs can't be much worse than ours but it's been about 10 years since I took a bus in Tanzania so my info is out of date.
 
Sunny said:
Why is that shocking? How much do you think it should be?
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I just think that €20 SINGLE is expensive (don't know what the return price would have been).

Perhaps its because I see Ulsterbus doing day returns Derry - Belfast for £5, but admittedly that is a special offer.

I travelled during the week, and I expected it to be slightly cheaper. I understand that some of the transport services are more expensive at weekends, but I am not sure if Bus Eireann charge more for this journey at weekends.

As I said the service is not even direct. In this day and age we should have direct services in among all the ones that stop off 4 or 5 times along the journey.

And surely a toilet on a bus from Derry to Dublin isn't too much to ask?
 
RMCF said:
I have made a few trips on Bus Eireann recently and was shocked at the expense.

€20 single from Dublin Airport to Derry. Thats shocking. And not even direct. Stops off at every dump along the way.
Click to expand...


Not bad for a trip of nearly 150 miles! Off the topic I know, but consider the €8.50 day car park fees would negate your bus ticket fee. You also must consider the price of deisel these days...
 
I wouldn't mind free public transport, but do we really need it and would other people be prepared to pay for it?

Given that, unemployment is rising, House sales (and VAT etc) are falling, the Government is now having to borrow money to meet current expenditure and just about everything else is going wrong with the economy, with plenty more bad news in the pipeline. There is no chance that they will consider introducing transport that is free to the end user, it would cost them a fortune.

The money they take in in excise duty and Vat on car and petrol sales is huge, so the taxation money currently raised from the motorist would have to be raised elsewhere.

Would the ordinary person be prepared to see an increase in general taxation or a new stealth tax so that the people using public transport could travel free. I don't think so.

Murt
 
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