Ottawa Anti-racist organization calls for #freetransit

GBO is a group organizing for social and environmental justice in our community. We will be meeting in Jan to discuss how to address racism in our community and promote the cause of free public transportation. Come join us! #OttPoli #OttCity #OttNewshttps://t.co/n285Z1Ytkg

— Grassroots Blackburn-Orléans (@GrassrootsBBHO) December 17, 2018

Writer advocates #freetransit to address #climate

Free public transit could combat both economic inequality and climate disturbances. And, if paid for by fees on automobility, fare-less transit could be part of a serious challenge to private, car-centred transit and urban planning.
....
But free transit should be promoted as an equality-based, short- to medium-term solution for mitigating the climate crisis. Kudos to Gebresellassi for pushing the issue to the forefront.

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/yves-englers-blog/2018/10/free-public-transit-could-challenge-reliance-cars

What if no one had to pay for public transit?

Ottawa’s public transit system certainly has its share of shortcomings. But the biggest problem preventing an efficient transit system is that we have never thought of our public transit as a truly essential public service.

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/menard-heres-why-im-supporting-fare-free-public-transit 

Shawn Menard, a former senior staffer for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, is a candidate in Capital ward for Ottawa city council. Follow him at @Shawnmenard1 or https://www.shawnmenard.ca

#transitdebateTO brings out a call for fare-free #publictransit

@FreePublicTrans #transitdebateTO https://t.co/IgdsDEqEPX

— Saskboy (@saskboy) September 27, 2018

Fare-free #publictransit suggested for London, Ontario.

...I would like to see if the city would be willing to consider a pilot project of one month of free transit during the summer to gauge the potential economic and societal impact (health) of offering the service for free in our city.
As most people know there are many benefits to be found by having people use transit:
1 – Better health outcomes – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4917017/
2 – Reduced need for road widenings
3 – Reduced congestion as 1 bus can handle the same capacity as 30-60 cars (or more).
4 – Reduced need for road maintenance.
5 – Increased property values and business sales – https://www.apta.com/mediacenter/ptbenefits/Pages/default.aspx
6 – Savings for families that opt to no longer have a second vehicle (or first)
7 – Increased mobility for those that cannot use other modes of transportation.
8 – Saves lives as transit is significantly safer than cars.
It would be good to present a full business case from London Transit listing the full benefits available to both the City and the Province/Country from investigating if free transit were to increase ridership to help mitigate costs and the other benefits of transit. I am recommending a summer month (I know that other months might give a more accurate picture) as we can more easily accommodate an increased passenger load during those months. I would also recommend that more than simple transit ridership metrics be gathered for this study. It may be worthwhile to have the city investigate funding from other levels of government to offset the cost of the pilot....

http://www.londontransit.ca/communication-2-september-16-2018/ 

A Campaign for Free Public Transit in Toronto

The Bullet : "Free transit would be a critical step in addressing climate change. It would help reduce urban sprawl, discouraging developers from building on farmlands and outer suburban areas.

Fare-free transit would reduce the costs of road maintenance as well as the environmental pollution and health issues caused by our current dependence on private cars. Everyone would benefit, even motorists, who would have less-crowded roads. Governments currently provide large subsidies for roads and highways for cars and trucks. Our tax dollars should benefit the common good."

South Huron: Lack of #publictransit "holding us back"

Lakeshore Advance: "Grand Bend’s Baillie, co-chair of the Huron Shores Transit steering committee, said the initiative began in August. He said the region has been identified as lacking in public transportation, a reality that has acted as an impediment to growth, social mobility, quality of life and employment.

“It’s holding us back,” Baillie said of the lack of public transportation. The Ministry of Transportation has identified the Huron Shores Transit area as underserved by public transportation."