Luxembourg was the first country in the world to introduce nationwide fare-free public transport for its population of 640,000 people, and the initiative is being closely watched across Europe. Last week, Naomi O'Leary took a trip to see for herself.
This has long been one of Europe’s most car-dense countries, with a passenger car ownership rate of 681 cars per every 1,000 inhabitants, a level well above the EU average and Ireland’s rate of about one car for every two people.
How much does it cost? The public transport system was always substantially funded by general taxation. Prior to the change, annual ticket sales raised €41 million — nowhere near covering the public transport system’s overall costs of about €800 million. Dr Veronique Van Acker, a research scientist at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research who studies travel behaviour, explains that it is difficult to measure the before-and-after effect of the policy.
She doesn’t believe a shift away from car use is taking place, however. “Because it takes much more than just offering free public transport.”When Luxembourg residents were surveyed about the policy prior to its introduction, they stated that other factors than ticket costs were more influential in whether they would choose to take public transport or not.
The experience of switching between multiple buses and trams makes clear that a lack of tickets makes complex journeys with many changes more seamless and appealing
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