Public transportation needs to be a public cost, paid for and funded by tax payers and not for profit. When transportation is subsidized but privately owned, then you will see maintenance neglected in an effort to raise shareholder value.
Public transit in the way we are used to it also cannot be run "for profit".
There is no public transit system where fares cover all the costs, never mind generating a profit. Riders would refuse to pay a fare high enough to do this.
Airlines barely make a profit. I'm not sure about intercity rail globally but in the USA, Amtrak relies on government subsidies to operate. All the private railroads gave up passenger service decades ago because it was unprofitable in the face of new competition (i.e. cars and air).
Local bus and light rail service will never be profitable as a private enterprise. We'll see what happens once drivers can be eliminated, but I'm still doubtful. Plus the public will still want some sort of authority figure on the bus or train. It's one thing to feel safe in a Waymo where you're not sharing the vehicle with 20 strangers but a bus or subway is different. So trade driver for security/customer service person and you're not really saving on payroll.
This all hinges on people utterly ignoring the expense of maintaining the road system.
If you factor in the spending on highways and road systems that can support high speed private vehicles at no direct cost to the end user, other forms of transport get incredibly competitive. Highway spending alone accounts for a quarter of a trillion per year. That doesn't account for spending at lower levels of government for streets and other car infrastructure.
>Plus the public will still want some sort of authority figure on the bus or train.
There are plenty of driverless transit systems. It is a very solved problem.
I'm saying that even with the current approach to taxpayer-funded roads, operating a local bus service cannot be done at a profit to the operator if they rely on fares alone. All public transit systems require substantial funding beyond what they receive in fares. And rail lines cost even more than roads do.
Privatizing such services and maintaining affordable fares is a complete non-starter. It cannot be done.
