Sydney is Australia is currently considering free travel on late night and early morning trains as one of many measures to reduce peak hour congestion. Despite previous efforts with mixed results.

Photo by Beau Giles

A drastic reduction in fare would naturally affect the operating budget but it also might entice new commuters to catch the train. These are big risks in the name of a more efficient service made possible or at least prudent by having an established secondary revenue strategy in place i.e. advertising on and in carriages and stations.

Mass public transit systems simply can’t rely only on commuter fares and public funding to deliver and improve their service. As an objective they should be working to reduce their reliance on public funding, so it may be used elsewhere, and develop a range of appropriate secondary or alternative revenue streams that are aligned with their core business objectives.

Truly free public transport is in all likelihood not realistic – someone somewhere has to pay – but what the commuter pays for or public entity funds can be proactively managed to be of a high consistently improving service.