With the growth of middle classes around the world, ownership of motor cars has become much more common, particularly for those who reside in large urban areas. It has been argued that free public transport should be provided in these metropolises as a method to curb the amount of polluted air and traffic congestion. This essay will explain why this approach should not be undertaken for cost and mobility reasons.
Looking at the argument from a cost perspective, even though there is an initial financial advantage for commuters with savings made on fuel, at some point down the track this would be lost, as municipal governments would have no choice but to raise taxes to pay for the construction, management and maintenance of public transport facilities. If the funds allocated to this were invested in how to make vehicles greener instead, such as with electric cars, the issue of air pollution would be addressed in a more cost-effective way. For example, the city of Taiyuan in China now has better air quality partly due to the investment they made in electric taxis and buses.
To summarise, free public transport is not a viable option to reduce road blockages and improve air quality, as there are some better money efficient ways to do this and to lower the mobility issues it can cause. Moving forward, cities around the world should adopt greener transport options, whether they be public or personal to ensure better and controlled traffic flow with fewer impurities in the air.