This is the first in an intermittent series of articles looking at some potential so-called “radical” policies an independent Wales could adopt….or, in some cases, could even be adopted under devolution.
I’m not suggesting every single policy proposal in this series needs to be adopted, maybe only one or two depending on the policy objective, the impact on quality of life and the affordability. The closest thing I’ve done to this so far are posts on legalising recreational drugs and prostitution.
I start off with public transport being universally free at the point of use.
Public transport is any form of transport which isn’t operated by the person using it, runs to a set schedule and can be used by anyone as long as they meet certain conditions to access it.
So public transport includes buses (and trolleybuses), trains, light rail, airlines, ferries, emerging forms such as personal rapid transit, or location-specific modes like public escalators, people-movers and funicular railways.
There are some modes you can discount from this exercise straight away. Airlines and ferries operate across international borders and are expensive to operate (plus low-cost air travel already offers what you could call a good deal), personal rapid transit hasn’t taken off yet and many location-specific modes may be free to use in the first place.
You can probably discount services aimed at tourists like private/volunteer owned heritage railways too.
So that leaves buses, trains and other forms of rail such as light-rail and metro systems to be considered further for universal, free at the point of use public transport.