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tonywang1989818UID: 2611555

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
The public need not to pay for public transport.


What is a matter of debate is that whether individuals should pay for the public transport or not. Most people would like to be supportive to eliminate the fares mainly because it will reduce their economic burden. In my opinion, however, a further development of the society necessitates the charge of the public transport.

It might be tempting to agree with the statement that the free public transport brings lots of benefits. It is indeed a great burden that will be reduced for those commuters. Take an example of my home town, those low-income-level people suffer the high transport fares a lot in that they have to pay a quarter or even one third of their income on the commute every month. Another advantage is that the free public transportation is so appealing that most people is willing to take public transportation instead of driving their own cars.  In this way, a decrease in fossil fuel emissions will increase air quality and aid in the fight against global warming. Therefore free public transportation is the answer for hard working people to have more money in their pockets, clean air in their lungs and a better future for their children.

However, a further close scrutiny of the argument reveals a couple of disadvantages.

There is no need for the public to pay the fares though, the cost always exists-- the drivers need to be paid, gas to be bought, vehicles maintained, and so on. In other words, some one else has to pay for this—and it is the government. As a result of the huge expense of the public transportation, the government would be forced to raise taxes to get the money required. Then it is not fair to pass on the responsibility to those who do not use the service. Subsiding without tax, the government is bound to make up for the money at the cost of other infrastructure construction, thereof exerting a negative influence on the development of the nation.

Furthermore, making public transportation free would take cars off of the road in the short run but not in the long run. At the beginning some people choose to take the public transport out of the nature of humanity—seeking petty advantages. Gradually there is a growing awareness of the negative effect that they don’t feel as comfortable as expected in such a crowded bus. Also it is not always much convenient and timesaving to take a bus regardless of the distance and route. Finally there must be turning back to their own cars. In a sense, not only the original problem is not solved but also the meaningless fiscal burden is increasing.

In conclusion, granted that the public transportation must not be totally free, in my eyes, the price at least should be nominal--just enough to pay for the service provided, and not a for-profit venture. And from an economics perspective, it is a Pareto Efficiency that maximizes the social welfare.

tonywang1989818UID: 2611555

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