The current scheme of raising revenue via gas tax is regressive.
If bridges can be tolled (pay per use), which is regressive, then the same can be applied to bus usage.
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.
- Josiah Stamp
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
- H.G. Wells
Or they could raise fares and get money from the people who are actually using the buses.
Given that one of the advantages of taking transit is that it should save you money over the cost of driving+parking, it probably won't have that much of an effect and may discourage people from taking transit and to drive instead.
So if we're all in agreement that regressive taxes are bad… raise the corporate tax rate, raise the top marginal rate, raise the capital gains rates.
I'm assuming Jordan Bateman and the canadian taxpayer federation would lend support to this given that they were the ones that led the charge against the 0.5% increase to the PST.
Given that one of the advantages of taking transit is that it should save you money over the cost of driving+parking, it probably won't have that much of an effect may discourage people from taking transit and to drive instead.
As it stand with current rates, for trips [HTML_REMOVED] 10km radius from where I live in Vancouver it's cheaper for me to drive and park than to transit in about 75% of all cases. This is for trips from home [HTML_REMOVED]1hr and assuming the price of the ticket and the gas are the comparative incremental costs. (ie: insurance and car ownership costs are sunk costs and not factored in)
Not to mention driving is faster, easier and way more convenient.
If the goal is to make the roads less congested, the system wouldn't be setup to punish 'short-haul trips' (which I believe make up the majority of car trips in cities).
Then again, if short haul trips through transit were encouraged through by lowering pricing, the GVRD would lose a LOT of the transit tax revenue from fuel sales at the pump. In that sense there's a bit of a cognitive disconnect going on when it comes to pricing transit to be more accessible than car trips.
The current scheme of raising revenue via gas tax is regressive.
If bridges can be tolled (pay per use), which is regressive, then the same can be applied to bus usage.
Yes, I'm not a big fan of bridge tolls either, for the same reasons. The proposed 0.5% sales tax increase, on the other hand, would be at least a little more progressive in that those consuming more would pay more. This assumes that the biggest consumers are also the biggest earners.
When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called religion.
How hard is it to imagine neighborhoods where you could walk (or bike) to almost everything you need (including your work)?
I ride my bike to work every day and to get groceries and to go anywhere else… just saying.
People who complain about how the transit should be paid for solely by people using it forget: Many people with cars still use the skytrain and for every person on the skytrain, you are taking a car off the road….It's not just helping us folks without cars, it helps everyone.
Regardless, I get what I want out of translink - it still is far above and beyond anything in any other city I've ever lived in.
Mass transit cannot service anything but high population density urban cores affordably, efficiently and in a cost-effective manner.
How the hell do most European countries manage it?
"I do like how you generally bring an open-minded and positive vibe to the threads you participate in"
- Morgman
How the hell do most European countries manage it?
European cities (many of them dating back hundreds of years) were built for people, not cars.
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/02/9-reasons-us-ended-so-much-more-car-dependent-europe/8226/
Or they could raise fares and get money from the people who are actually using the buses.
Oh that there's a real bright idea. Raise the fares and then spend what you gain for more security and transits dicks to deal with increased fare evasion.
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
The MTR in Hong Kong runs in the black. A trip on it can also cost as much as 15 dollars.
How the hell do most European countries manage it?
Same reason they have high speed trains and we do not… population density. Waaaaaay more people in Europe in many more large cities than we have in Canada.
Same reason they have high speed trains and we do not… population density. Waaaaaay more people in Europe in many more large cities than we have in Canada.
However, all the rail systems are national, not Europe wide. For example the Netherlands has half the population of Canada yet they have 3000km of track and move 500 million people a year.
Why major Canadian cities don't have passenger rail networks makes little sense. I guess it's just the car-centric North American way? Either that or the governments here are f**king useless and couldn't organize a piss-up in a brewery…
"I do like how you generally bring an open-minded and positive vibe to the threads you participate in"
- Morgman
The geography might have something to do with it.
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.
- Josiah Stamp
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
- H.G. Wells
The geography might have something to do with it.
The provinces and municipalities are independent no? Why no localised rail?
The UK is made up of multiple county funded rail systems that combine to make the national network.
"I do like how you generally bring an open-minded and positive vibe to the threads you participate in"
- Morgman
The provinces and municipalities are independent no? Why no localised rail?
The UK is made up of multiple county funded rail systems that combine to make the national network.
population density, age of the country, car culture, etc.
there are numerous reasons as to why and unfortunately also numerous reasons as to why not.
We don't know what our limits are, so to start something with the idea of being limited actually ends up limiting us.
Ellen Langer
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