Free Bus Service * Australia - There's no such thing, Mr Premier
Milton Friedman once said there was no such thing as a free lunch. Someone should tell Mr Rees there are no free buses either...
Sydney,New South Wales,Australia -The Sydney Morning Herald, by Oliver Hartwich -December 5, 2008: -- Nathan Rees promised to make Sydneysiders' lives easier on Wednesday as he launched the off-peak bus service between Circular Quay and Central Station... Mr Rees may claim the bus will be used by people who would not otherwise take public transport. But that is nonsense. If you put a zero price on any good or service, of course some people will go for it. But that's not the same as saying they value it as much as it costs to provide it. If they really valued it, they would be willing to pay for it, too. And at $1.80, single bus tickets in the CBD are probably not beyond the average Sydneysider's reach... The bus will merely divert passengers from regular bus services to the free service, so existing buses will travel empty while the free bus will be packed... No matter how you look at it, the new service does not make sense. Nor is it really free. It may be provided by the Government, but the $3 million it costs is ultimately shelled out by you and me, the taxpayers. As such, it is paid for by taxpayers from rural NSW, who are unlikely to use it. They are entitled to wonder why they should subsidise people taking buses in central Sydney. All of this we should not forget when the state's budget is in disarray and other public services are under threat...
Labels: free buses
posted by Unknown @ 4:05 PM
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