[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Idk about you guys, but I've been a bit skeptical about the "free for all" kind of speech. It just doesn't help people grow responsible.
Nothing is for free. Everything requires some work, then some fare to reward people working on stuff.
Operating a mass transit system implies tremendous costs. Building a subway line is something. Maintaining and operating it are yet something else, even when automation would gradually take over.
And mass transit workers have to be paid like anybody else.

So the balanced thing to do is to partly subsidize it, just because using the mass transit system instead of a car is an act of good public spirit in a city that can afford it.
But users should also partly pay for the service they benefit from, just to remind them that it's not actually for free, and that taxpayers in general have to pay for it as well.

I guess it should be roughly free only for people in severe distress, real bad poverty.

That's what we've been doing here in Paris, and overall, it works decently.

Beware of the "free for all" ideology. I mean, supporters of slavery had everything for free, thanks to their slaves, and it was obviously all wrong.

Jesus man, this is America 2019. You will be tarred and feathered for saying we need more responsibility and that things aren't free.