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Our tax dollars pay for our children to get a ride to and from school every day to become productive members of society. It's a part of the taxes for public education to pay for the gas, drivers, maintenance and organization of these school buses. My parents paid these taxes, and yet I wasn't allowed to even ride the bus because I lived about a mile away. They said I could walk.

Once we have become productive members of society, what then? Some people graduate high school without the means to get to and from a job. Some don't even finish high school before they are forced to work. Many city children have to give up an education to provide for their existing family members. Some of those children live in states that you can't get a license until you are 18. Those children are paying for their own rides to and from work, either by carpooling with strangers or hopping on the mass transit. Either way, it keeps them from saving enough money to buy a car, much less other necessities.

According to the statistics, our government believes we earn on average about $40,000 a year per person. If that were true, we wouldn't even have public transportation because we could all afford a car. They claim poverty level is about $16,000. Most Americans I know only make about $20,000, barely living above poverty level. And yet everyone believes that we all have equal means to better ourselves.

If we had free public transportation, those using it would still be paying for it out of tax dollars. Yes, even the people not using it would be paying as well, but look at our education taxes. You don't have to have a child to pay for children's education. It's a fair way to help people with lesser means.

Plus, having free mass transit would encourage people to use it. This would create less pollution since the buses are going to drive the same route the same number of times every day they always have. More people would use the opportunity and drive cars less, seeing as gas is rising higher lately it would be an improvement on finances as well. Overall, it's a positive economical decision to provide free mass transit. The idea should not be condemned just because people with more money want to save a few extra dollars per paycheck.

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth Vaughn.
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