Public transport should be paid by those who don’t use it

Sunday, September 15, 2019.

Morgane was impressed about the technology used in public transport tickets in Finland and Estonia:

in both Finland and Estonia you can buy bus/tram tickets on your phone then scan them when you board. it’s really nice seeing modern and effective public transit. I hope to experience it in California one day :)

Yes, it is comfortable and modern. I guess that some technology companies made good deals with our politicians who like to look modern. They probably never heard about Albert Jacquard who suggested already 19 years ago (“J’accuse l’économie triomphante”) a very different view: Those who agree to satisfy their transportation needs by using a bus or a tram should actually get paid by those who don’t. Because they actively contribute to a healthier and sustainable life in their city while car drivers don’t. At least they should not pay more than the others. That’s why public transport should be free for everybody, which means fully paid by the state. The state can easily balance these increased expenses e.g. by raising the fuel tax, or by reducing other expenses. The expenses for such a change wouldn’t be very big since anyway transportation companies already now get public subventions, and because they would save money because no ticketing system would be required, no expensive high-tech system and no patrols of human ticket checkers.

Why is Jacquard’s idea still mostly ignored? Because nobody can make money from it. Money rules the world. I believe that we should change this: this world should be ruled by humans, not by an aggregation of anonymous mental constructions. I am collecting ideas about how to get there in Solutions.