[PaulHoule]

I'd put it this way.

If you paid for the bus 100% with your fare it would be completely scalable. If transit demand doubled, revenue would double and they could run twice as many buses.

A fixed amount of public spending (typically 75% of expenses in many transit systems) is not scalable. You could double or triple bus ridership but service deteriorates because you don't get buses. The municipality, bus company, etc. have every incentive for transit promotion to fail because more people taking transit blows up their budget.

Note there is a good case for subsidization in that people riding the bus create benefits for others: 20 people riding the bus can take 20 cars off the road which makes life better for drivers, pedestrians, etc.

[jonhohle]

I am very much in favor of public transportation, especially light rail. The best systems I’ve used were Seoul and Tokyo. I rode King Metro most working days into Seattle for four years. When I lived near DC I’d rarely drive in because I preferred taking the metro trains.

The solution to congestion, imho, is making public transportation acceptable to the largest customer base by making it clean, convenient, and timely. That might not capture the poorest or the richest, but they still benefit from less congestion, noise, and air pollution.

Making it good would provide more benefits to most cities than making it free, imho.