[homeles_ot-l] Zero-fare Public Transport Systems Do Exist and Work Quite Well -- City of Ottawa Could Be Doing Better By Us ALL.

[lj1967 at sympatico.ca]

Zero-fare Public Transport Systems, Ottawa could be doing better by us ALL. However, that would involve looking beyond the current silos of Urban Planning here in Ottawa and Ontario. It would be interesting to know where Ottawa's Transit Planners draw their inspiration. Truly there is no sound reason why "Discounted OC Transpo Bus passes"  for the ailing-vulnerable and economically are not achievable and/or a sound Community Economic Development measure.  Moreover, it is a bit odd to have  to argue the point in a Country like Canada who is awash in $13.8 dollars of surplus.  I wounder what kind of Green Cities are being planned, if at all?

http://www.opirg.org<http://www.opirg.org/>

-- FYI --

Zero-fare public transport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport> services are funded in full by means other than collecting a fare<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fare> from passengers. They may be funded by national, regional or local government<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government> through taxation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation> or by commercial sponsorship<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponsorship> by businesses -- Or maybe a combination of the aforementioned points.

      Contents:
        a.. 1 Types of zero-fare transport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#Types_of_zero-fare_transport> 
          a.. 1.1 City-wide systems<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#City-wide_systems> 
          b.. 1.2 Local services<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#Local_services> 
        b.. 2 Benefits of zero-fare transport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#Benefits_of_zero-fare_transport> 
          a.. 2.1 Commercial benefits<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#Commercial_benefits> 
          b.. 2.2 Community benefits<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#Community_benefits> 
          c.. 2.3 Environmental and Global benefits<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#Environmental_and_Global_benefits> 
        c.. 3 Examples of city-wide zero-fare transport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#Examples_of_city-wide_zero-fare_transport> 
        d.. 4 Examples of Limited zero-fare Transport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#Examples_of_Limited_zero-fare_Transport> 
        e.. 5 References<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-fare#References> 
     


Types of zero-fare transport

City-wide systems
Several mid-size European cities and many smaller towns around the world have converted their entire bus<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus> networks to zero-fare.

An important variant: From the vantage of the role of public transport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport> as one of a broad range of major non-car options available to serve the community as a whole (the New Mobility Agenda<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mobility_Agenda>), what is important in this instance is that the service is perceived as being free, exactly as is the case of the mind set of most people when they decide to take their car somewhere, and certainly for short trips. The Catch-22<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22> of the car-based, no-choice old mobility system<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mobility_Agenda#Terminology> is that the car trip is not in fact free, far from it, but it is generally perceived as such.

Likewise, this perception of freeness is important for public transport, which is far more environmentally and resource efficient than own-car travel - which means in this case that full access to the system need not be altogether "free" for its users but that from a financial perspective is becomes (a) front-loaded and (b) affordable. The invariable fact of life of delivering any public service is that the money to do so must come from somewhere - and of "free" public transport that once the user has entered into some kind of "contract" with her or his city - for example a monthly or annual transit pass that opens up the public system to unlimited use for those who pay for it. Now, how they pay and how much will be part of the overall political/economic package ("contract")of their community. In cities that offer such passes - as is the case to take but one example in most cities in France that have since the mid-seventies had their own Carte Orange<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_Orange> - the remainder of the funds needed to pay for these services come from other sources (mainly in this case from employers, local government<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_government>).


Local services
Local zero-fare shuttles or inner-city loops are far more common than city-wide systems. They may use buses<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buses> or trams<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams>. These may be set up by a city government to ease bottlenecks<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenecks> or fill short gaps in the transport network. Others might be operated as part of the services offered within a public facility, such as a hospital or university campus<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campus> shuttle or an airport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport> inter-terminal shuttle.

Some zero-fare services may be built to avoid the need for large transport construction. Some port cities<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_city> where shipping would require very high bridges<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridges> might provide ferries<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferries>. These are free, just as the use of a bridge would have been. Machinery within or part of a building or shopping centre can be seen as 'zero-fare transport': elevators<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevators>, escalators<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalators> and moving sidewalks<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_sidewalk> are often provided by property owners and funded through the sales of goods and services. Even community bicycle programs<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_bicycle_program>, providing free bicycles<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycles> for short-term public use could be thought of as zero-fare transport.

A common example of zero-fare services is School Buses<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_Bus>, where the students do not need to pay in most cases, with the exception of the United Kingdom<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom>, where students usually must pay at least £300 annually to use school buses.


Benefits of zero-fare transport

Commercial benefits
Some zero-fare transport services are funded by private businesses (such as the merchants in a shopping mall) in the hope that doing so will increase sales or other revenue from increased foot traffic or ease of travel. Employers often operate free shuttles as a benefit to their employees, or as part of a congestion mitigation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitigation> agreement with a local government.


Community benefits
Some activists promote the idea that all the public transportation in a given city or community should be free. They claim that this would make the system more accessible and fair for low-income<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-income> residents, and provide benefits such as decreased congestion<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congestion>, faster average speeds, decreased air pollution<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution> from cars and related improvements in public health, fewer traffic accidents, easier parking<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking>, savings from reduced wear and tear on roads, and savings from not having to pay for fare<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fare> collection equipment and personnel.


Environmental and Global benefits
If use of cars<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cars> is discouraged, zero-fare public transport could reduce local air pollution<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution>, and mitigate the problems of Global Warming<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Warming> and Peak Oil<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Oil>.

"Towns and cities with zero-fare transport": There are 19 pages in this section of this category. 
      C
        a.. Camano Island<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camano_Island> 
        b.. Chapel Hill, North Carolina<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_Hill,_North_Carolina> 
        c.. Châteauroux<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Châteauroux> 
        d.. Clemson, South Carolina<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemson,_South_Carolina> 
        e.. Colomiers<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colomiers> 
        f.. Commerce, California<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce,_California>
     C cont.
        a.. Compiègne<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiègne>
      E
        a.. Emeryville, California<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeryville,_California>
      G
        a.. Gap, Hautes-Alpes<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap,_Hautes-Alpes>
      H
        a.. Hasselt<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasselt>
      L
        a.. Logan, Utah<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan,_Utah> 
        b.. Lübben (Spreewald)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lübben_(Spreewald)>
      M
        a.. Mariehamn<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariehamn>
     


Tuitio ad servitium pauperum -- Breath & Shadow: 

The Hunting of the Snark: "Oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day, If your Snark be a Boojum! For then You will softly and suddenly vanish away, And never be met with again! We should all of us grieve, as you well may believe, If you never were met with again -- For, although common Snarks do no manner of harm, yet, I feel it my duty to say, Some are Boojums." ~Lewis Carroll.

"La noblesse est soutenue au coeur -- Faire l'amour à la vie et le revel dans son esprit." ~François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire. 

"I sit on a person's back, choking them and making them carry me, and yet I assure myself and others that I am very sorry for them and wish to ease their lot by all possible means -- except by getting off their back." ~Leo Tolstoy.

"Those who do not feel pain much, seldom think that it is felt. And yes, to wipe all tears from all faces is a task too hard for mortals; but to alleviate misfortunes is often within the most limited power: yet the opportunities which every day affords of relieving the most wretched of human beings are overlooked and neglected with equal disregard of policy and goodness." 
~ Samuel Johnson.

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"I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty." -Groucho Marx.   

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