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Craig Hall

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Any one for free public transport

In the UK we spend £6 billion on subsidies to the train and bus companies. If we add 1p on income tax we could raise a further £5 billion giving us a grand total of £11 billion a year to spend on infrastructure and transport and provide free public transport.
Not only would we create real jobs and growth, but it would eleviate congestion leading to cleaner air. Reduce road traffic accidents, increase disposable income to the poorest, after all we are being taxed to get to work and back. Can you imagine coal mine workers being charged to travel down the mine shafts.
It would also increase the chances of reducing our carbon emissions, it's a win win.

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  • George QT

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    Feb 25 2013: Like you said, the point is MANAGEMENT!!!!... do you really believe a government, any government, I don't care the country or the ruling party... do you really believe a government can do a good management job???... if a government is not able to force private companies to provide a good service, how on earth do you believe this same government would be able to provide the service by itself????... If an architect can not force his/her workers to do a good job, would you hire him/her to build your house on his/her own???? Yes it is a nice intention, but once again, do you really really believe your government can do a good management job????
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      peter lindsay 30+

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      Feb 25 2013: No I don't believe a government can do a good management job, but if they stuff it up we can vote them out whereas if a private company does a bad job the CEO gets a pay rise, and is only replaced by a vote from shareholders who probably don't even ride the bus.

      • George QT

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        Feb 26 2013: You are missing my point entirely. The job of the government is not to provide us with public transportation, the government's job is to make the transportation companies to provide a good service at a reasonable price!!!. So, my point is: The government is not doing its job, it's real job!!!. I don't care who's the CEO of the local transportation company, and how he/she got there, or about his/her salary, as long as the government forces that company to comply with all the laws including those regarding infrastructure and vehicles maintenance. I don't understand why tax payers should be punished because some bureaucrats are allowing transportation companies do whatever they want whenever they want, and I am pretty sure those bureaucrats are not elected by direct vote. To me, there is something really rotten inside that branch of the government, and believe me, the problem won't be solved by giving more power to those people.

    • Craig Hall

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      Feb 25 2013: I wouldn't be interested in politics if I didn't think it possible to improve things. We need a more progressive type of politics rather than the push pull of the "left" & "right".
      The London Olympics was a good example of public vs private with the G4S fiasco. It was the Army that lead the way with pride not profit being the driving force.
      I'm Chairman of a local junior football club with 17 teams 6yrs through to senior level. I have a great bunch of volunteers helping to run this Club. We are not unique, there's millions of volunteers out there doing things for nothing.
      My point is there are plenty of good people out, given the chance, would be far better than our current crop of politicians, running the show.
      My proposal was on my manifesto when I ran for parliament in 2010 here in the UK, as an Independent. It was to highlight the inconsistencies of all the major parties claiming to have a serious environmental strategy for the future.
      http://wagstaffe.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/craig-ian-hall-independent-policy-ideas/

      • George QT

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        Feb 26 2013: I think you are drifting away form the core subject: public transportation management. This not about left and right, this is about power and corruption. You have a fleet of about how much??? 6,000 vehicles???, 10,000???, 12,000???... you must have 2 drivers per bus, and 10% extra for eventualities, that means you have to hire at least 210% drivers, are you naive enough to think they won't want to form a union???... a union leader with that amount of affiliates is or will be corrupt, sooner or latter you will see union executives selling fuel and tires on the black market (obviously stolen from the buses). with that amount of vehicles, are you naive enough to believe the maintenance staff won't be corrupted by the repair parts and service provides to put cheap parts on the buses, at the price of expensive ones???. or to do phantom services to the vehicles???... I mentioning only a few sources of corruption at the operative level, but there is a whole lot of corruption possibilities at the administrative level also.

        In the end who's going to pay for that??? exactly the same people you are trying to provide with a "free service" .

        So, no my friend, this is not about left and right, this is about power and corruption. How are you going to solve that???, give me solid, real, viable strategy and I will support you.

        • Craig Hall

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          Feb 26 2013: I'm not drifting. Public transport was privatised and broken up by a right wing Tory Government back in the 80's.
          The argument goes " why should I, a taxpayer, who doesn't use the buses or trains subsidise those that do".
          30 years on we are subsidising these private companies to the tune of £6 billion and rising. I live in a small town and you can't get out quickly in a morning or get back in quickly at night because of gridlock. There are too many cars on the road and we can't even keep up with the pot hole repairs.
          There is no one addressing the problem of gridlock and yet we have a solution to the problem.
          We need some real jobs to stimulate the economy. Improving infrastructure, providing cheaper alternatives to the car and moving people about more efficiently would be a step in the right direction.
          The union scenario is a good point but that is for another debate. Lets imagine that the Army are going to be involved just like they were during the Olympics.

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