Tuppenceworth doesn’t usually link for the sake of it. But today’s short, easy to understand explanation of the consequences of taxing Carbon emissions as opposed to establishing a quota and trade system by Alex Klemm of The Progressive Gardener is a model essay.
Carbon Taxes vs Carbon Quotas
Because I still feel I have to justify posting this, I’ll add that this is exactly the kind of reporting the Paper Round would like to see more of.
1 Comment
Truly a wonderful post. As a long-haul commuter I abandoned the car in favour of public transport for a host of practical reasons.
However, our current fare system for public transport is in need of reform (along, sadly, with most of the public transport network and scheduling) to meet the needs of the long-haulers like me. I stay in Dublin 2 to 3 nights a week. Therefore, even factoring in PRSI and PAYE savings, an annual commuter ticket is not an economic offering – it really only makes finanical sense if you have the stamina or mental elasticity to handle 5 hours commuting each day.
Likewise, fares have risen dramatically in recent years which has added about 25% to 30% to the cost of a return ticket.
In order to trigger a shift away from single occupant car (in itself a safety risk if it is 5:30am and you’ve had 5 hours sleep at most when you are driving – if I had a euro for the near misses I’ve had or have seen…) there needs to be a shift towards making public transport a viable alternative. This means incentivising more ‘flexible’ fare structure (perhaps by allowing punters like me for whom the current Faresaver scheme is akin to a chocolate fireguard to claim back their total travel costs in a year against tax, evidenced by bus tickets etc. – assuming 2 return trips a week 48 weeks a year that is less than €700 for me at 42% – and the Revenoo are dab hands at complicated rules so restricting the applicability of the rebate to long-haul commuting).
It also means increasing the flexibility of Bus Eireann and also private operators to open new routes, expand existing ones and basically react to demand in the market – we leave loads of people behind on my route – a second (hired) mini-bus usually accompanies us from the second big town on the way to De Schmoke… why not run a permenant second service rather than an ad hoc hired relief bus?.. answer… the paperwork bottleneck in the Department (or so I’m told by those what know).
Finally, government policy should shift away from viewing public transport as “Ghettos on Wheels” and view it instead as “Chauffeurs for the Proletariat”. Pumping money into more roads to cater for increases in car traffic is nuts when the real challenge is to reduce the number of single occupant vehicles spewing out carbon and such like to beat the band. More roads, with a bias towards mass transit on them yes. Even better – why not extend, reopen and enhance our rail network further (and faster). It should not be faster to travel by bus from my home town than it is by train – but it IS faster.
if it is makes economic sense for people behaviour will change quickly. Personally, after one too many near misses I decided I didn’t want to become yet another single vehicle collision statistic.
Perhaps our road safety and our carbon emissions problems have a common component to their ultimate solutions?