Indeed, establishing the system on the rationale of helping low and moderated income households cope with rising gas prices puts the system in place for addressing regressive impacts of a carbon cap and auction system.
And by having funds that can be used to subsidize public transport ticket makes it much easier for public transport authorities to sell travel passes rather than per trip tickets, for a reduction in ticketing costs and ticketing time overheads. This is especially important given that there will still be need to resort to substantial reliance on electric trolley buses at the bottom level of the transport hierarchy in a policy to establish a network of infill suburban villages amongst the suburban sprawl. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
And many recipients prefer the cards to food stamps per se for the reason cited above ... they reduce the stigma of using food assistance. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
If we get there, then yes, the case can be made that there are strong reasons to go even further, and instead of subsidizing the auto transport system as we do today, shift that to subsidizing public transport instead.
But as an across the board principle, a level playing field would be such a step forward for public transport in the US, that I'm happy to focus on that at present. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
