Luxembourg set to become first country to provide free public transport

Luxembourg set to become first country to provide free public transport

News:

In an effort to reduce traffic congestion and the environmental impact of cars, Luxembourg has announced its plan to become the first country in the world to make all its public transportation free.

Important Facts:

1. Traffic congestion is a major problem in Luxembourg, which receives a large number of cross- border commuters from neighbouring France, Belgium and Germany on a daily basis. A recent study cited by The Guardian showed that drivers in the capital spent an average of 33 hours in traffic snarl-ups in 2016
2. It has a Modal mix, from 83% of private cars and 17% of public transport. With the introduction of free public transport, Luxembourg aim at a modal mix of 75% public transport and 25% private transport.

Is making free public transport effective?

• The capital of Estonia, Tallinn, introduced free public transport in 2013. Data on the effect of making public transportation free is Tallinn suggests that the passenger demand for public transport only increased by 3% after the measure.
• It has also been observed that free buses have induced people to walk and bike less rather than drive less.
• Reducing cost of public transport is not an effective measure as a major reason for congestion is that private vehicles are under-priced.

Suggestion:

• To make public transport more attractive and increase ridership it is important to enhance services like bigger park and ride lots, bus lanes and service extensions that make larger difference to ridership.
• According to the Cats study, abolishing fares only accounted for a 1.2 per cent rice in passenger demand in Tallinn; the rest of the total ridership increase of 3 per cent can be attributed to service improvements.
• More people will switch to buses and trains from driving if the cost of using a car goes up.