In 2020, Luxembourg became the first country to provide free public transport across its entire territory.
Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, is public transport which is fully funded by means other than collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local government through taxation, and/or by commercial sponsorship by businesses. Alternatively, the concept of "free-ness" may take other forms, such as no-fare access via a card which may or may not be paid for in its entirety by the user.
On 29 February 2020, Luxembourg became the first country in the world to make all public transport in the country (buses, trams, and trains) free to use.[2][3][4][5] On 1 October 2022, Malta made its public transport free on most routes, though unlike in Luxembourg, this applies only to residents.[6]
As some transit lines intended to operate with fares initially start service, the organisation may elect not to collect fares for an introductory period to create interest or to test operations.
Types
City-wide systems
Tallinn's residents voted for free public transportation on 24 March 2012. This polling place was in a historic tramway Gotha G4-61
Several mid-size European cities and many smaller towns around the world have converted their public transportation networks to zero-fare. The city of Hasselt in Belgium is a notable example: fares were abolished in 1997 and ridership was as much as "13 times higher" by 2006.[7]Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia with more than 420,000 inhabitants, switched to free public transport in 2013 after a public vote.[8]
In the U.S. state of Washington, 14 rural transit systems have adopted zero-fare policies, either permanently or through pilots in the 2020s.[9] Fares for passengers aged 18 and younger have been free on most local and inter-city transit systems in the state since September 2022. The program was part of a larger statewide transportation package and also includes inter-city Amtrak trains operated by the state, as well as the Washington State Ferries system.[10]
Local zero-fare shuttles or inner-city loops are far more common than citywide systems. They often use buses or trams. These may be set up by a city government to ease bottlenecks or fill short gaps in the transport network.
Zero-fare transport is often operated as part of the services offered within a public facility, such as a hospital or university campus shuttle or an airport inter-terminal shuttle.
Some zero-fare services may be built to avoid the need for large transport construction. Port cities where shipping would require very high bridges might provide zero-fare ferries instead. These are free at the point of use, just as the use of a bridge might have been. Machinery installed within a building or shopping centre can be seen as 'zero-fare transport': elevators, escalators and moving sidewalks are often provided by property owners and funded through the sales of goods and services. Community bicycle programs, providing free bicycles for short-term public use could be thought of as zero-fare transport.
A common example of zero-fare transport is student transport, where students travelling to or from school do not need to pay. The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point partly funds the Stevens Point Transit system. All students at the university can use any of the four citywide campus routes and the other four bus routes throughout the city free of charge. The university also funds two late night bus routes to serve the downtown free of charge with a goal of cutting down drunk driving. The University of Nottingham offers free Hopper Bus between its University Park and Jubilee, Sutton Bonington and Royal Derby Hospital campuses, where no other bus companies operate direct routes between. However, this service requires passengers to tap their university ID to board, meaning that members of the public cannot ride on these buses.
In some regions transport is free because the revenues are lower that expenses from fare collection is already partially paid by government or company or service (for example BMO railway road in Moscow, most part of is used to as service transport and officially pick up passengers).[clarification needed]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, several agencies paused the collection of fares to alleviate concerns that the virus could be transmitted on surfaces, to keep travelers from coming into close contact with employees, or to allow rear door boarding on their vehicles. These agencies are mostly located in smaller cities where the farebox recovery ratio is low as they could afford to implement this policy without a major hit to revenue.[20] A study was conducted to detail the ways that fare collection during the pandemic varied geographically and demographically. During this time, 63.5% of the 263 public transit agencies studied had suspended fare collection. Geographically, the alleviation of fares was common around urban centers like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, etc and less obvious in northwestern states.[21]
Benefits
Operational benefits
Transport operators can benefit from faster boarding and shorter dwell times, allowing faster timetabling of services. Although some of these benefits can be achieved in other ways, such as off-vehicle ticket sales and modern types of electronic fare collection, zero-fare transport avoids equipment and personnel costs.
Passenger aggression may be reduced. In 2008 bus drivers of Société des Transports Automobiles (STA) in Essonne held strikes demanding zero-fare transport for this reason. They claim that 90% of the aggression is related to refusal to pay the fare.[22]
Commercial benefits
Some zero-fare transport services are funded by private businesses, such as the merchants in a shopping mall, in the hope that doing so will increase sales or other revenue from increased foot traffic or ease of travel. Employers often operate free shuttles as a benefit to their employees, or as part of a congestion mitigation agreement with a local government.
Community benefits
Zero-fare transport can make the system more accessible and fair for low-income residents. Other benefits are the same as those attributed to public transport generally:
Road traffic can benefit from decreased congestion and faster average road speeds, fewer traffic accidents, easier parking, savings from reduced wear and tear on roads
Increased public access, especially for the poor and low waged, which can in turn benefit social integration, businesses and those looking for work
Global benefits of zero-fare transport are also the same as those attributed to public transport generally. If use of personal cars is discouraged, zero-fare public transport could mitigate the problems of global warming and oil depletion. On average, cars emit one pound of CO2 per mile driven.[23] Public transport helps to reduce the number of vehicles being driven which results in decreasing carbon emissions. Cars are also responsible for emitting other pollutants such as antifreeze.[23]
Several large U.S. municipalities have attempted zero-fare systems, but many of these implementations have been judged unsuccessful by policy makers. A 2002 National Center for Transportation Research report suggests that, while transit ridership does tend to increase, there are also some disadvantages:[24]
An increase in vandalism, resulting in increased costs for security and vehicle-maintenance
In large transit systems, significant revenue shortfalls unless additional funding was provided
An increase in driver complaints and staff turnover, although farebox-related arguments were eliminated
Slower service overall (not collecting fares has the effect of speeding boarding, but increased crowding tends to swamp out this effect unless additional vehicles are added)
Declines in schedule adherence
This U.S. report suggests that, while ridership does increase overall, the goal of enticing drivers to take transit instead of driving is not necessarily met: because fare-free systems tend to attract a certain number of "problem riders", zero-fare systems may have the unintended effect of convincing some 'premium' riders to go back to driving their cars. It should be kept in mind that this was a study that only looked at U.S. cities, and the author's conclusions may be less applicable in other countries that have better social safety nets and less crime than the large U.S. cities studied.[24]
Countries with area-wide zero-fare transport
Luxembourg was the first country to offer free public transport (trams, trains, and buses) for everyone across the entire country. Since 29 February 2020, all public transport has been free in the country, with the exception of the first class on trains.[25][26]
Estonia wants to become entirely zero-fare. Counties in Estonia are allowed to make public transport free. Between 2018 and 2024, buses were free of charge in 11 of Estonia's 15 counties. Public transport in Estonia's capital, Tallinn, has been free to local residents since 2013.[27][28] As of January 2024, free local transport in the counties was largely abolished, but remains available for people up to 19 years of age and those aged 63 and over.[29]
Malta became fare free for all residents on 1 October 2022.[30]
There are UK-wide provisions for free bus travel for senior citizens (60-years-old and over in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Greater London, state pension age for England).[31][32][33] The Scottish government has also implemented free bus travel across the country for people under 22-years-old since 31 January 2022, while the Scottish National Blind Person Scheme allows free rail and ferry travel for blind persons.[34][35] The senior citizens bus pass also apply to rail and rapid transit (the Tube) in Greater London, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Romania has made public transportation including buses, subways and inter-country trains free for all pre-university students. However university students only have the option for a 50% discount on individual inter-country train tickets or inter-city subscriptions.[36]
In the Netherlands, students with Dutch citizenship get free public transportation country-wide in trains, trams, buses and metro. Students who are studying at universities of applied sciences and universities need to finish their degree ten years after starting it or they will need to pay back the amount of money.[37][38]
Throughout Spain, from 1 September to 31 December 2022, all multi-trip ticket train journeys on commuter services and medium-distance routes (less than 300 kilometres (190mi)) were made free of charge.[39]
Since March 2024, the Hungarian national railway company MÁV does not charge those of ages 65 and over and 14 and under for transportation.[40] Buses of the company Volánbusz can also be used free of charge from people of these same age ranges.[41]
List of towns and cities with area-wide zero-fare transport
Free public bus transportation for everyone on the busses within the municipality; It was decided, because mostly school students used busses which the municipality covered
Free public bus transportation for residents, students and workers registered in the Municipality of Cascais. Cascais was the first in Portugal to implement the measure and is the fourth-largest city of the country.
Free public transport for students Studentenreisproduct or OV-studentenkaart in the whole Netherlands. Students can choose for free transport on weekdays and 40% discount in the weekends, or vice versa.
Tallinn is currently the largest city offering free public transport for its residents. Regional buses are excluded from the scheme. Elron commuter trains are also free inside the city limits.[58] Tallinn is also the first capital with free public transport for its residents.
Free use of all buses and the lightrail lines S6 and S68 in the city areas of Monheim am Rhein, Langenfeld (Rheinland) and Düsseldorf-Hellerhof, for residents of Monheim am Rhein only
Only 365-day chip coupon (however the chip card costs 299 Kč and prolongation 1 Kč) and user must to not be a debtor toward the city. Number of passengers has increased from 3.8 million in 2010 to 5.7 million in 2013. Since 2014, it is possible to travel free on regional bus lines to next 18 villages and towns. Population in the serviced area is 100,000. Chip card for free public transport has 25,000 passengers.
In 2017, the city bus transport was free for senior citizens, children and students up to 26 years; since 2018, buses are free for all, but only in the city zone (sections outside the city are still paid).[70][71]
3 intervallic lines (yellow, red and blue) and 3 school lines (Š1, Š2, Š3), licence numbers 289001–289006, in working days only. Previous lines of Prague Integrated Transport remain paid.
In some bus lines in older unair-conditioned bus (far prices are also about age/equipment of bus). Also time and again for new public metro tracks for several months.
Transfort stopped collecting fares in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has since continued operating zero-fare. As of January 2023, the city is considering keeping Transfort fare-free permanently.[106]
The first large U.S. city to implement a universal, systemwide fare-free scheme after a unanimous City Council vote to make RideKC buses Zero Fare through 2023. The bus system previously cost travelers $1.50 per ride or $50 for a monthly pass, while the KC Streetcar has been fare free since it began service in 2016.[110]
Utah Valley Express (UVx) Bus-Rapid Transit Line only. UVX fare has been covered by a Federal Highway Administration Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement grant through 2021.[115]
Beginning on 4 October 2021, the City of Rome Transit Department began offering free Fixed-Route Transit Service in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fare adjustment is currently set to expire on 29 December 2023.
free 13-route public transit system operated by Southeast Vermont Transit serving 200,000 riders annually and providing commuter bus service between Bennington and Brattleboro. Operates as "the MOOver".
Fare-free transit has been repeatedly demonstrated to increase ridership—especially during non-peak travel periods—and customer satisfaction.[124] Several analyses[125][126][127] have shown ridership increased by as much as 15% overall and about 45% during the off-peak periods. The effects on public transport operators included schedule adherence problems because of the increased ridership and more complaints about rowdiness from younger passengers, though obviously there were no more direct conflicts with passengers regarding fare collection.[125] When the University of California, Los Angeles covered fares for the university community, ridership increased by 56% in the first year and solo driving fell by 20%[127] (though one older study showed no measurable impact on automobile use).[126]
In the United States, mass transit systems that collect fares are only expected to generate about 10% of the annual revenue themselves, with the remainder covered by either public or private investment and advertisements.[110] Therefore, politicians and social-justice advocacy groups, such as the Swedish network Planka.nu, see zero-fare public transport as a low-cost, high-impact approach to reducing economic inequality.[128] It has also been argued that transportation to and from work is essential to the employer in the managing of work hours, so financing of public transportation should fall to employers rather than private individuals or public funds.[129]
9-Euro-Ticket (in Germany in June, July and August 2022)
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↑ Goldberg, Dori. "The New Geography of Fare-Free Public Transport: Examining the Suspension of Fares in the United States During COVID-19." Brussels: Master in Urban Studies (ULB/VUB) (2021).
1 2 Perone, Jennifer S. (October 2002). "Advantages and Disadvantages of Fare-Free Transit Policy". NCTR Report Number: NCTR-473-133, BC137-38. CiteSeerX10.1.1.504.198.
↑ "Elevii din România vor avea transport gratuit"[Students from Romania will have free transport]. www.edu.ro (in Romanian). Romania: Ministerul Educației Naționale. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
1 2 A.H.Studenmund; David Connor (July 1982). "The free-fare transit experiments". Transportation Research Part A: General. 16 (4): 261–269. doi:10.1016/0191-2607(82)90053-X.
1 2 Jeffrey Brown; Daniel Baldwin Hess; Donald Shoup (September 2003). "Fare-Free Public Transit at Universities: An Evaluation". Journal of Planning Education and Research. 23 (1): 69–82. doi:10.1177/0739456X03255430. S2CID109294907.
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