Free public transportation may please the public but it is not economically viable. A public transportation system requires massive capital investment including the expenditure on infrastructure vehicles and management systems and it is also expensive to keep it operating smoothly, which depends on the support of drivers administrative staff and engineers. If passengers made no contribution to it, the system would sooner or later go bankrupt and a city without a healthy public transport system would be paralysed by traffic jams.

Another problem of make public transportation free is that it will discourage people from using more environmentally friendly means of travel. All commuters will be encouraged to travel by bus or train to eliminate transportation costs from monthly budgets, regardless of the environmental impact of their choices. The emissions from public transport, albeit lower than those from private cars, continue to pollute cities and cause air pollution, which takes its toll on the health of inhabitants.

Finally, even though low cost public transportation has its perceived benefits, it does not automatically mean the government should bear all expenses. As mentioned before the operation of public transport services can cost a fortune and no government is financially capable of supporting the system, let alone expand or upgrade it. If a disproportionate amount of money is spent in bus or train services, cities would have inadequate funding for equally important services such as medical care. The option of privatising some services is possibly more sensible, as long as the government forbids private companies to raise prices to a level that is unaffordable to the public.

In conclusion, I do not support the idea of financing public transport fully with government money as it is not financially feasible. Nor do I agree on the provision of free services.