Free roads? Why not free transit?

A recent Star editorial concerning road pricing generated the predictable response from the anti-toll crowd: we paid for the roads so we have a right to use them at no cost.

What if we all agreed that road use be free of charge, with one concession: public transit become free of charge as well? Consider this: we already pay close to 50 per cent of transit operating costs through taxes, why not go all the way and pay the full cost – it could be the cheapest way to give everyone equal access to transportation, and for those lucky enough to already own a private automobile it would be the most affordable second car they could ever buy.

Free-of-charge public transit is by no means a novel idea and even a number of municipal candidates across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) have mused about offering free transit to seniors during the middle of the day. Something that may not be widely known is that a number of cities around the world have been providing their residents with free of charge public transit for many years. Visit www.freepublictransit.org for more information and click on various communities listed in the box on the left-hand side of the Home Page.

While fare-free transit may not make sense for big cities with well-established transit systems it might be worth consideration for smaller communities that are struggling to grow transit ridership. The regions of Durham, York, Peel and Halton, the 905 belt, are grappling with record-breaking population growth and along with the new jobs and residents there’s ever-increasing traffic congestion and bad air that "auto-matically" come with more cars.

Fortunately municipal decision makers and the land development industry are attempting to turn the corner on urban sprawl and there are some notable examples in the GTHA such as Markham Centre and Cornell in York, and Oak Park in Halton. These communities have been planned with people walking, cycling and using public transit for the majority of their travel needs, and there’s a growing awareness that we won’t be able to accommodate projected population growth and densities using the same transportation approaches from an era when the car was king.

In the future, if we rely too heavily on private automobiles for the majority of our travel needs, studies and transportation models predict our communities will become choked by traffic and quality of life eroded by the associated negative environmental and social impacts.

All 905 communities have a desire and plans to increase transit use from an estimated 10 per cent today up to 30 per cent in 20 to 30 years. These targets are ambitious at best and others suggest they can’t be achieved without innovative policies and practices, and strategic investments that position shared and active modes of travel ahead of the private automobile.

According to the 2010 York Region business plan and budget, their transit system (YRT – Viva) has experienced the highest ridership growth rate in the GTHA in the past few years and one of the highest in Canada (as per Canadian Urban Transit Association statistics). Recently ridership growth has slowed down from double digit increases to approximately 3 per cent in 2008 and 2 per cent in 2009.

While this growth is impressive, and the introduction of Viva bus rapid transit and subway extensions have positioned York and its member municipalities as transit leaders in the GTHA, achieving their stated ridership goals may benefit from pioneering tactics like free of charge transit.

Today in York Region there are about 312,000 households and the transit department there expects to raise $50,499,500 from the fare box this year. Using some simple math - revenue divided by total homes – the investment required to provide each and every household in York Region with free of charge public transit for a year might be as low as $161.86.

This number is compelling considering the Canadian Automobile Association estimates it costs close to $9,000 a year to own and operate a motor vehicle in Ontario, and communities that have implemented free transit policies have seen huge transit growth plus reduced expenditures for road repair and construction.

Removing public transit fares in other urban areas appears to have paid off big time in terms of healthier ridership and improved quality of life. Could not this fall's municipal election campaigns (in which road tolls akin to political suicide have been mentioned) provide a forum in which fare-free transit is given a fair hearing?

About Lorenzo Mele

Comments

[Kevo]

I can't wait for people to freak about reading this article, but it brings up an important fundamental point:

My tax dollars paid for subways (my grandparents taxes in Toronto's case), streetcar & LRT lines, and bus purchases, so why shouldn't I be able to use them for free like a driver? My tax dollars also paid for the ROM and AGO, why do I have to pay a user fee for those too?

By no means is this a "war on cars" like the crazy ideologues on each side (pro/anti-car) think, it's simply changing one last piece of infrastructure over from 100% subsidized to partly subsidized, like all government infrastructure is nowadays (on a side note, you'd think right-wingers would love pay roads - less government involvement and more like the free market). Cars aren't inherently bad, we just use them very poorly. Just as one hand cart replaced 3 humans and a horse drawn carriage replaced 5 hand carts, each car should've replaced multiple horse carriages. Yet car usage exploded and instead of carrying 4 or 5 people on every trip, we carry just ourselves, negating the massive efficiencies they hold over older transportation methods.

As an example of tolls roads, let's use the 407 (disclaimer - I still hate how Harris sold it off, but it's an excellent example). The reason I pay to use the 407 is because there's no traffic on it and because it's in great condition. Sure it costs me $2.50 to get from Mississauga to the west end of Burlington, but I don't waste my time, there's less chance me getting in an accident, and I can travel quickly. There's no doubt in my mind that with highway tolls that traffic levels would decrease and road surface quality would increase.

[GinaTO]

Let's be realistic here. I take the TTC and bike to work, and we use our car maybe once a week, but as long as it takes 1 hour by TTC to go somewhere when it takes 20 minutes by car to do the same even in heavier traffic, the car will always be needed. And have you tried carrying anything bigger than a purse on crowded public transit?? A car is still needed for any sizeable grocery run or other shopping trip. Unless you're willing to spend a lot of time on transit every time, there are instances where the car is needed and preferable. I don't need free transit - I need reliable and quick transit.

[Krakondack]

"Free" roads? Well, in the sense that there's no toll. But don't you have to buy gas for your car, included in which is a gas tax? Doesn't that fund roads? Or was that only the story when they passed it?

So in that sense, free transit would be way beyond free roads, because fuel and operating costs are the biggest component. I don't mind public money building transit infrastructure - the only defensible similarity to free roads - but beyond that, users have to contribute.

[Matthew Lee]

While I agree with your sentiment about the need to boost transit ridership in the GTHA, your simple math calculation is flawed.

If transit services were free, the $161.86 to be paid per each household is only to sustain the existing level of service. There will be a tipping point where vehicles become overcrowded and additional services will need to be added. Relying only on property taxes to fund transit is an unsustainable model in the long term.

It's much more equitable that provision of roads and transit be funded by both the taxpayer and the user. Road user charge model is much more effective to promote people to shift modes, especially when the revenues generated from road user charges go directly to funding transit services. This positive feedback cycle is exactly what Toronto needs to bring us out of chronic traffic congestion.

[knee-jerk commenter]

Not going to happen. They'll fight the required tax increase tooth and nail. Although, granted Harper just spent $500/citizen (even non-tax-paying dependents) on fighter jets so maybe its a bargain and much more practical. Besides the populist election candidates who think they can win with this issue will face some cynicism. We have a long experience of politicians promising then not delivering.

[CM]

last I checked the roads are free to transit already.... seems like its fair all around

[Serge]

1. To start with, toll all major highways, and nothing else. If necessary, then move to major arteries, several years down the road. Throughout, use per-kilometre congestion pricing: the less crowded the road, the cheaper the per-km rate. All funding to be directed towards building public transit throughout the GTA.

2. Get to the Presto or open or, really, whatever smartcard for transit can quickest be adopted, as soon as possible -- on the condition that it is the same for all GTA systems. At the same time, get to work on integrating all GO and TTC and YRT, etc. stations that are adjacent to one another -- where "integrating" means actually being able to switch from one to the other without leaving the station and, in fact, as quickly as possible

That lets you get to work on integrating the GO system, which is a massive waste of money that has huge potential. What to do: charge per kilometre, irrespective of what mode of transit (GO train, TTC subway, VIVA bus, whatever). Now watch as people start to use GO trains the way they ought to be used, as express routes between two given points in the GTA -- which lets you increase the frequency of GO trains significantly.

[doug]

sure great idea...but also every other transit system is subsidized by government at some level...the TTC isn't at all...so until the Ontario government steps up and does then this idea is a n0-go...as the TTC is solely fare funded...

[ArtVandelai]

Everyone forgets just how much roads actually cost to build and maintain. Gas taxes are but a small portion of that, and the revenues are commingled with other taxes and not necessarily spent on roads. Most road spending is at the municipal level, while the gas taxes are collected at the federal level with a few pennies allocated to the municipalities. Municipalities have to pay for the bulk of the repair and ongoing maintenance costs, while the provinces only pay for provincial "highways".

A recent study estimated that road users in Canada are subsidized by on average between 20 and 35 percent, even with all the taxes included. That includes even costs like licencing (which really go to administering the liceicing system...not the roads).

What that study did not include is policing, emergency services, parking, and the health care costs associated with motor vehicle accidents, and its clear that taxpayers are subsidizing private transportation to an unbeleivable extent.

While many transit systems are subsidized more than private autos are, it's still very incorrect and naive to believe that drivers are paying their full fare.

[J Vernon]

As far as the government is concerned, driving is not free. In order to drive you need gasoline, which is taxed. Those taxes go to the government and pay for (among other things) the maintenance of the driving infrastructure. There is no similar mechanism for transit... except transit fees. There is no free lunch. The money to provide these services must come from somewhere.

[Rob]

Roads aren't free. Drivers pay sales tax when they buy a car, sales tax when they repair a car, sales tax on their insurance, gas tax on every fillup, licensing fees for plate renewals and in the city of Toronto a licensing fee again and an additional tax for street parking permits or front pad parking permits. While I think free or much much cheaper transit would is a great idea let's not pretend it doesn't cost anything to drive.

[Jose]

This is what Toronto and all of Canada is good at. Bringing issues up and writing about them in the media. It stops there. It doesn't mean a thing when there is no actual action and building towards it. Sorry to say, but Toronto is finished and stuck. The rest of Canada is on its way.

[moof]

The roads (and a lot more) are funded by the tax on what is consumed while driving - gasoline, when you do your own driving -- that's more or less appropriate, although the issue of how much road tax goes to general revenues is largely unanswered. Of course, you still have to pay for your own insurance, fuel, maintenance and capital costs (free? hah!). If you choose to have a person operate the vehicle for you (chauffeur, limo, tax, bus, etc) there is a cost. So free public transit is fair, as long as riders continue to share in maintenance, fuel, insurance and staffing costs...hey, that already sounds like public transit without taxpayer subsidies, doesn't it? Here's an idea - help fund transit by a tax on what is typically consumed by the riders - newspapers!

[Maria Radford]

I am currently in Fresno, California. As we are taught in economics, nothing is free. But the 'positive externalities' of public transit (less pollution, less lung disease, less noise, less time lost in traffic, less stress on the user) actually benefit everyone in society. So, it makes sense to SUBSIDIZE public transport. Here in Fresno, university employees are encouraged to leave their cars at home to fight pollution by giving them free access to the city's bus service and a discount on food at the university if they use it. In LA public transit is $.25 a ride in off peak times for people on welfare, food stamps, etc. and senior citizens. Public transit doesn't have to be entirely 'free' but when service is good enough it can certainly encourage people, especially those who might not otherwise go out or who leave cars parked in space wasted on parking lots all day to take the bus or subway. Research into how other urban areas provide these services is worthwhile to give us ideas on how to make Toronto an even better place to live.

[Gary Sommerville]

What a great idea, why not free transit

[Jeff]

How are roads free? More than 2/3rds of the price of a litre of gas is taxes and more than half of that is specifically road taxes. Driving isn't free it has annual charges as well as per litre usage charges, unless you drive on veggie oil or on pure electricity you are paying a per litre fee each time you fill up. Just because they collect the fee at the pump and not as a direct toll doesn't make it free. Our transit is packed during rush hour and rush hour is more than two hours long. Beyond this we have seen the highest ridership in the 2008 and beyond when prices were already above 2.75 per one way on cash adult tickets. This suggests that price is not what is effecting ridership. Again the TTC needs more riders at 10pm and they need more riders at 2am and they need more riders at 2pm not during rush hour.

[Vader]

Roads are not free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The taxes on gas are to be used for building and maintaining the roads.
License fee ditto.
It's a user pay system already. The more you drive, the more gas you use
the more taxes you pay to support the road system.

The problem is, the gov't puts the taxes it collects from gas purchases
into one account and it's downhill from there.

[Michael]

Sorry but I'm a transit and cycling enthusiast and I think this is a poor idea. The transit systems are already strapped for cash without removing a large portion of it's revenue. If the mayor could come up with the extra dough to cover lost box fare, I'd rather keep the box fare and use the extra money to improve the system. It's crowded enough already. Make it free and it will be even more so.

[Nimalan Veerasingham]

While completely agreeing, by all arguments that the allegiance to car should go away in a cosmopolitan city state like Toronto – effective measures have to be equally undertaken to make the transition from ‘car’ to ‘’public transit’ a smoother one with less resistance.

One of the ways in which this could be undertaken by providing free parking in downtown – yes, free parking for those who hold ‘TTC PASS for Zone 1’.
• ‘Zone 1’ Pass would allow the holder to travel South of Eglinton upto lake shore/ East of Dufferin / West of Broadview.
• The Free Parking could be located either end of Lakeshore, connected by a frequently run, efficient LRV on Lakeshore connecting Union Station.
• The ‘Zone 1’ Pass is in no way have a prelude for multi-tier fare system but to provide incentive for the car-huggers to taste public transit. This pass could be dispensed through TTC Fare machines and counters for a flat fee of $ 50.00.
• The TTC ‘Zone 1’ should have the entry/exit system encoded appropriately.

After one year of the above implementation, as a gradual glide, tolls should be implemented through transponders at the entrances of ‘Zone 1’. This gives the owners of private vehicles sufficient room to digest the benefits of public transport with reasonable farness and open mind.

If this intention proceeds, by all means we all in the city will benefit from the reduction of pollutions of all kinds, and would have cultivated a healthy green city with pedestrian preferences and cycle paths. The tolls collected should exclusively spent on improving or finding means of connecting the city with its soul, its shores – that means without or hidden or buried ‘Gardiner’.

[Duane]

need to agree with Jeff, roads are not free, gas tax licence fees and fines all are supposed to go to roads. Most transit vehicles do not have licence plates nor do they pay fuel tax and are covered by city or provincial insurance policy's if they are covered at all.

[The Duffer]

Another example of muddled thinking. Aside from walking, transporation is not "free" to anyone. The author is saying that because we don't pay directly to use public public roads in the form of tolls, perhaps it would be fair to make public transportation "free" as well. Ridiculous. As the writer himself points out, the CAA estimates it costs $9,000 per year to keep a car on the road. The motorist already pays top-dollar for their "private" transportation; it's the transit user who's ride is being subsized by the taxpayer. The subway rider who pays $2.50 to ride across town on an underground train isn't nearly covering the cost of his/her ride. It is a total fallacy to reason that if we start tolling the highways, they'll suddenly become empty of vehicles because everyone will switch to public transit.

[allenabc]

Cost of transportation could be greatly reduced by allowing or forcing(or even organizing) hitchhiking and allowing free competition(that is no one would need a license to carry passengers for a fare) in the business. Just imagine if say at rush hour all cars had to carry a full passenger load to drive on the roads! By maximizing capacity a lot of money would be saved

[Eddy]

For people who are supporting toll roads, you have to understand infrastructure in Canada before jumping on to conclusion. Public Transit in Toronto (Including GTA) is somewhat dismal to other metropolitan cities around the world. GTA have about 6 million people (including 2.5 million in City of Toronto) yet we have 2.5 subway lines (0.5 for Shepperd subway) and aging street cars and bus routes, where cities like Madrid, Barcelona (who have similar population) have 7-8 subway lines, etc.
The fact is taking public transit takes much longer time than driving. For instance, last weekend, I went to Woodbine beach (I live by Air Canada Centre) by taking TTC and it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there, instead of normal 15 min drive. Who would want to spend x5 time to get to their destination because they want to save environment?

Before talking about toll-roads, the government should give at least reasonable alternative, like vastly improving public transit so commute time of taking public transit is somewhat similar to driving.

[Phil]

Let's just put some perspective into this. No, roads are not free, as the gas tax effectively acts in a way to charge for roads in the same way fares do for public transit. But the gas tax is not even close to paying for the same use that public transit users have to pay for.

TTC average fare is 1.80 per trip. This includes those who use metropasses, which is why the fare is lower than you might think. The tax on gasoline is 24.7 cents per litre. If a car gets 10L/100 km on average, that means that every kilometre driven nets the province 2.5 cents. This means that unless transit users have an average trip of 100 km - road users are being more heavily subsidized.

Taking it further, the average trip length on transit on the TTC is about 10km. At $1.80 per trip, that works out to $0.18 per kilometre. Therefore, transit users pay SEVEN TIMES what road users do to take transit vs. roads. So... yes, gas tax exists. But let's not overstate it here.

Finally, just as an aside I worked out a little while ago how much it would cost residents of the GTHA to have free transit on all systems, including GO. Accounting for the increase in ridership and the increase in service necessary to accompany it, it would work out to around $330 per person (on average.) Free transit seems like a good policy to me, and actually a fairly cheap way of eliminating a good amount of vehicle kilometres from the roads.

Summary:
Free Transit in GTHA: $330
Cost of using Transit Infrastructure vs. Road Infrastructure: 7X higher

[Transity Cyclist]

@GinaTO

Glad to hear you TTC and bike. With regards to groceries and shopping, I would recommend the use of Bicycle Pannier Bag racks. It's pretty affordable, small in size, and it's taken a lot of stress off my back when I buy tonnes of food. Even larger things to carry, like furniture? I would recommend a trailer, very flexible, roomy, although it could be on the expensive side.