by Sean Curtis

Created on: January 14, 2008

The old adage is "nothing in life is free." This would definitely apply to the question of whether or not public transportation should be free. The fact is, even if it were "free," it would have to be paid for somehow. And this would inevitably be with tax dollars, which come out of our pocket anyway.

So essentially, those who don't use public transportation would be punished, and forced to unfairly pay for a service they don't use.

However, in this time of increased concern over the environment, any initiatives to make people drive their cars less would be wonderful. But the reality is that people need to get where they are going. Many people work far away from their homes, and there is no public transit system available.

As well, in Chicago anyway, the public transportation is not cheap by any stretch. A ride costs $2.00, so it costs $4.00 to ride to and from work. This adds up to $20.00 per week, which, even with steep gas prices, is less than I spend in gas to get to work.

Perhaps a better goal would be to make public transportation more widespread and cheaper. With better organization, clearer public transit schedules, higher commitment to on-time arrival, and better vehicles, more people would be enticed to use public transit. But as it stands in Chicago, many people are discouraged by the lack of a clear schedule, routes that don't take them where they need to go, and general doubt that the bus or train will be on time.

If cities were able to make public transportation more reliable and ubiquitous, then they could begin to discuss initiatives like free public transit. With more routes taking people exactly where they need to go, free public transit would certainly be welcome in many places. But as it stands now, it would unfairly punish too many taxpayers who don't use the system to begin with.

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