It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer: it’s complicated.
My name is Marcus Wienboh and I work as a traffic planner in Stockholm, Sweden.
I understand that in a previous life and maybe still in your current life, that you were a pretty devout.
I don't know what's the best word for what you were?
A transit protester, a transit anarchist, a.
Public transit advocate bringing more access to public transit for people.
Can you just pronounce the name of the organization?
Is it Planka?
Planka.
So it means fare dodge.
Now, talk about how you dodge a fair.
If it's a train, are there turnstiles that you have to jump, things like.
That in the metro and the commuter trains that were back then turnstiles.
The turnstiles had a sensor, so if you just stretch your leg in, you would reach the sensor and it would open up and you would slide through.
Marcus Feinbaum didn't just dodge fares himself and encourage others in Stockholm to do the same.
He and his comrades at Planck also had a scheme to mitigate the risk of fare dodging.
We mainly did this by organizing a solidarity fund.
So if you got caught and you got a quite hefty fine at the moment, I think it's somewhere in the vicinity of $150.
The solidarity fund would pay this.
So this is a group you join where you're not going to pay for the transit that you ride, but then you contribute to.
It's kind of like an insurance fund, right?