In message , at 08:21:26 on Thu, 20 Sep
2012, Alex Potter remarked:
On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 05:01:12 +0100, Mike Tomlinson wrote:

Why doesn't TfL adopt the Barcelona system - a fixed fare for a single
journey of any length?

Probably because of the (IMV mistaken) idea that public transport should
be a profitable enterprise, rather than a public service.

It's often more of a case of how big the subsidy is. Not unusual for
some overseas Public Transport operations to run on the basis of one
third fare box, two thirds subsidy.

TFL costs about twice the farebox revenue to run, iirc (£5.5bn operating
costs plus £2bn capital projects) versus £3.5bn. So not exactly
"profitable".
--
Roland Perry