Again, there's no public transit system in North America that recovers its capital costs. So every single public transit project, from an economic point of view, is not viable and needs to be subsidized. If you're entering into subsidies, it automatically means you're dedicating some tax dollars for that purpose that will go to no other purposes. So again, in some communities they're willing to bear that cost, because that cost provides other benefits; it creates a more vibrant downtown or allows them to service land at the outskirts that they wouldn't otherwise be able to access easily, etc.
So to the extent that every time somebody gets on a bus in Canada, their local municipality is subsidizing one-half of their fare on average, that's an important thing. It means that the community has said that not only are they willing to bear the totality of the capital costs but are also willing to subsidize each trip, because it's important to them. It's important for accessibility, as a lot of people cannot afford cars. It may be important for land planning. It might be important as a commitment to cleaner air.
The answer really varies by municipality.