Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Why make the poor pay for public transport?

Inquirer Opinion: "Public transport like the MRT or LRT should therefore be considered an essential part of production, or of the social or collective way by which wealth is produced in our society—just as machines, factories, offices, etc. are an essential part of production.

Consequently, the cost of constructing, operating and maintaining this component of production should be considered a cost of production—just as everything else used for production, and for which part of capital is used, is considered a cost of production.

But if public transport is an essential part of production and its upkeep and operation are a cost of production, then a basic question faced by all cities or countries is: Who should pay for it?"