Should Parking Be Subsidised?

Your views on traffic and parking in the town

Should council owned car parks be subsidised

Yes
12
67%
No
6
33%
 
Total votes: 18

newcomer
Posts:118
Joined:Mon 02 Dec, 2013 11:00 am
Re: Should Parking Be Subsidised?

Post by newcomer » Thu 22 May, 2014 3:30 pm

Joby wrote:
newcomer wrote:
Joby wrote: Same reason I don't support re-nationalising railways, as I don't think it's fair for non-train travellers to subsidise rail travel.
What is your plan for running a service that can't have any effective competition? (and arguably, the real problem, can never be profitable but is considered a public good economically).
I don't have one. But...perhaps run as (government or privately-owned) NPOs where profit is fed back into improving the service rather than to shareholders. And in a feeble attempt to keep this on-topic, maybe car parks should be based on a similar model.
Sounds sensible... Still unsure of your linkage between an aborrence of subsidy and ownership of railways though!

In another feeble attempt to keep this on-topic. If you cut all subsidy and let the prices reach it's level in the market, prices (2-3x now) would be just be too expensive for most people, and then the whole thing would become uneconomic and at some point you would lose the important public benefits (reducing congestion, mobile workforce, etc.). I suggest something similar could happen with carparks where the drop in footfall caused by higher prices would effect the local economy (before it effect the profits of the car park overly).

Joby
Posts:91
Joined:Tue 03 Dec, 2013 12:09 pm

Re: Should Parking Be Subsidised?

Post by Joby » Thu 22 May, 2014 4:40 pm

newcomer wrote: Sounds sensible... Still unsure of your linkage between an aborrence of subsidy and ownership of railways though!
I'm not sure I ever said I abhor subsidy - I think that was someone else. I see public services on a scale, with essential services such as fire, police, health etc. at one end rightly receiving high levels of funding, and non-essential services such as 5-a-side football pitches, swimming pools etc. at the other receiving low or no funding, instead being financed by the people who use them. It's quite black and white at each end of my scale, but rather grey in the middle (which is probably where railways resides... :) )

Post Reply