Transportation – How much should it cost?

I was reading an interesting article about busing in Norther Ontario and it led to a discussion about what the government should or shouldn’t pay for.  After all, the government is really you and I so it comes down to how much green should be plucked from our lives to pay for services.

For instance we subsidize public transportation here in Cornwall.   A ticket doesn’t cover the cost of maintaining the system.   Now it can be argued all over that if the system was better then more people would use it, but the bottom line is that public transit systems rarely if ever make money.

For some reason in this country, and in some degree in the US, train systems are not really supported any longer.  In Europe they are much better.   Schedules, fees, quality of service.   I know personally I’d rather take the train than bus or drive most times. 

Here in Cornwall the best Ottawa commuter option seems to be the Delaney bus service, but the options they offer are very minimal.   That’s not meant to be critical of them either.

It seems every time I try to book on Via their schedules don’t work or if they do the price is almost double other options.   Sometimes it’s even cheaper to fly than take the train.

Driving is heavily subsidized too as roads don’t come for free.

Again, it makes me wonder why we as a society seem to have given up on trains?  What do you think Cornwall?

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