Free public transportation should be a thing everywhere. And where do you make up the lost revenue? Parking and toll roads.

Getting more people to use public or active transportation saves money for municipalities vs. spending it on new car infrastructure and upkeep.

I've been to Montpellier in France, where residents never have to pay for public transport, and it's amazing and beautiful how full the trams and buses are all the time. The weird thing is that it benefits the remaining car drivers a lot: if the people in public transportation had to drive around in cars, traffic would come to a complete standstill.

Also counterintuitive: while free public transportation sounds like it might attract the poorest, it does the opposite and reaches into the middle class. The poor never had any other option, but for the middle class it became the better option. Which I think is important, because the middle class has a lot more in common with the lower class, but media prevents one from seeing the other.

Charging a small amount – such as 50 Australian cents in Queensland – was a good way to ensure that public transport attracts only passengers who need to travel, he added.

I don't understand. What does this mean? Are they afraid of homeless people or something?

I’ve only been to Australia once but I believe “cost of living” is spelled/pronounced “cozzie livs” there.