Should public transport users pay their way?

The Transport Forum wants a review of concessions and I think that’s reasonable. I cannot see why student concession fares, for example, shouldn’t in-principle be means-tested.

It’s worth contemplating the possibility that subsidising all fares might actually make many of those who are on the lowest incomes and who are most dependent on public transport, worse off. This could be the case if entrenched under-funding leads to institutionalised under-provision.

Off-peak services will have to be cross-subsidised by those that are better patronised. That simply means those who have the capacity to pay – like the aforementioned CBD peak hour commuters or, better still, their employers – should pay fares that make a bigger contribution to recovering system-wide costs.

A lot of the public transport discussion is focussed on management arrangements. That’s a pertinent issue but it’s not the main game. I think it’s time for a new debate about public transport that’s centred on moving toward full recovery of internal and external costs from both transit and cars. You can’t make policy on one without the other.