With fuel, public transport still so costly, active commuting is key

General
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Great article by one of our Dunedin-based academics about a rational approach to commuting:

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Yes, but actually zero cost public transport is really a bad idea. When tried, the mode shift to buses comes mostly from active transport, particularly walking. There is typically very little mode shift from cars. Most car drivers can afford to keep driving, even petrol doubles again, and it’s a cultural thing not a price issue. Increasing PT subsidies further, when already less than 25% of costs are covered by fares in Otago, will simply put more pressure on government and ORC finances when the oil situation is already stretching budgets for worthwhile works such as cycleways.

In that scenario pressure will come on to reduce the cost of public transport by cutting services.

Instead we should be charging car drivers the full cost of their habits, by charging for all on-road parking. Nic says “good luck” finding free parking, but free parking is almost everywhere in Dunedin except the CBD. This parking doesn’t cost car users a cent directly, but it costs ratepayers millions per year to provide wide roads and maintain seal for parking,a s well as subsidies from businesses forced to provide car parks. If I go to town on a weekday, I cycle past dozens of cars parked down Serpentine Ave.

Eliminate the massive subsidies for car use, and continue to expand public transport to the point where increasing patronage pays for it, at current fares.

With climate disaster staring us in the face, and the abundance of fossil fuels coming to an end, we just can’t expect to have everything for free any more. The distances we collectively commute is directly related to the likelihood of environmental and economic collapse.

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Thanks Alex for your well considered thoughts. Totally agree that we need to reduce subsidies of cars (esp the petrochemical burning type) to move the dial here, and that our biggest issue is in fact cultural.

Have you got some good references for that? This did just pop up on my news feed:

Certainly reduced walking is not the goal here!