Free Transit Now!

So for a long time I've been dreaming about this one. In my beloved Hamilton, let's make a trip on the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) completely and utterly free for anyone choosing to ride.

Of course it won't be completely free. We'll have to raise Hamiltonians' property taxes to compensate for the loss of fares, tickets and passes. Ideally the federal government, swimming in surplus, would come to the rescue, but with a Conservative government I wouldn't expect it. Ultimately though it would require all of us to sacrifice a little but get back a lot. Though I haven't done the calculations, I bet it would work out to maybe a couple of hundred dollars a year to cover the HSR's current takings at the fare box. Maybe that's even an ambitious figure.

And think of what we'd be getting:

1) Cleaner air: everyone likes to moan and groan about smog days in the summer and now year round but just think about how many car trips could be saved if you could just jump on the bus. At the very least you'd be willing to give it a shot. And even changing one commute a week has a huge impact on our air. Transit is clean, driving alone is not. Plain and simple.

2) A more egalitarian city: right now if you ride the bus and you have a good job, something is perceived to be wrong with you. Only poor people take the bus, didn't you know? Them and maybe students who can't afford a car or don't have a driver's license yet. The truth is investing in transit benefits everyone regardless of their economic situation. Millions upon millions spent on highways only benefits a certain segment of the population. If we're serious about fighting poverty start with levelling the playing field in transportation.

3) Fighting climate change: cities hold massive populations in relatively small areas. If all those people drive that's a monstrous amount of carbon dioxide being produced. Even if we could get half of them on the bus that would be a huge contribution to the great challenge of our time.

4) Take driving down a notch: right now for all the city's big words, cars are king. Walking down the sidewalk after a storm today it was blindingly clear. The road was completely swept of snow which had been dumped in a suitable place, the sidewalk. The image was literally black (road) and white (sidewalk). We need to start moving people toward a car-free world (or at least car-limited) in light of peak oil.

5) A healthier population: when you drive you barely use your muscles. You drive from door to door without breaking a sweat (well maybe if your heating is on). Then you get fat, unless you can drive to the gym after working overtime and watching the game on TV. Conversely when you take the bus you're walking between stops and making stopovers at shops and the library. That's a lot of walking which is Canadians preferred method of exercise. How much does our lack of exercise cost our healthcare system?

6) Sense of community: you're destined to be an individualist if you never see anyone else besides your family and friends and move from personal bubble to personal bubble. Just think about how many people you say hello to on your way to work; more likely you're giving them the finger for cutting you off. Also more eyes on the street means more of us looking out for one another.

7) Happiness: I attended an amazing workshop on walking (stupid that you have to have a workshop on the most basic of human activities but this demonstrates how far our "civilization" has fallen). A speaker raised the question of happiness through walking. Humans like to people watch and be with one another. We are the ultimate social species. Perhaps our "civilization's" pervading sadness is caused by a lack of human contact.

8) Financial: transit is cheap. You can spend $10,000 and up on a new vehicle or you can spend $780 a year on monthly passes (and it would be less if we all bought in). Is "freedom", whatever that means, worth all that money? Do you really need to be better than everyone else? Even if you hate transit with a passion, perhaps you have children in high school. Instead of shelling out for bus passes every month you could just pay a lot less and provide them and your grandchildren and their children with free transit.

9) Got any more? Add them in the comments below.

The one problem, you're probably thinking, is that transit is woefully underfunded so people wouldn't want to get on board. This is very true but if it's free you won't be risking much. And as more and more people take to the bus they'll like it and start to demand more frequent service. It's their taxes after all.

And one serious assumption I'm making is that Hamiltonians will actually take the bus if it's free. Partly I must say that we won't have much choice. Are you ready to spend 30% or more just to drive everywhere? This is the future. There can be no denying it, much like climate change, the science of peak oil is there.

But also humans do what makes sense. If you have a good bus service you'll use it. Transit is the only real challenger to the single occupant vehicle.

So is this proposal crazy? I can hear a resounding "YES" already. Given climate change and peak oil maybe this is the time for crazy ideas.