yes, public transportation is by and large affordable here but
not to the extent of being dirt cheap. it does add up to quite a
sum at the end of the month especially for those travelling long
distances. this is all the more pertinent when we consider that
most new towns are located on the periphery of the island far away
from offices or the industrial areas.
furthermore, what service do we get in return? long waits, crowded
buses, no seats ... not at all a pleasant journey is it?
as a tourist i did feel that Paris's 3-day or 5-day pass were
indeed expensive. but i was in germany too where the yearly pass
was very affordable ... even more so than here ... and german buses
are squeaky clean and new like ours ... i won't be surprised if
Parisians enjoy some form of concession in public transportation as
well.
also, we cannot be one sided in our comparison ... what good is it
comparing ourselves with the worst? why benchmark ourselves against
the worst? are we striving to be like them?
personally i have no serious complains about our buses, just the
money making mindset that a monopolist is so adept at and which
goes against consumer benefits. what i've pointed out are areas
that can be improved upon. rather than indulge ourselves in
complacency, why not act on these public outcries and reverse the
trend towards incessant increases? if private bus companies can
charge lower than our state owned ones, surely the latter can do
better?
