Would free public transportation work?

The Tyee, a Canadian publication, says instead of charging more for public transportation, giving way free rides, offers plenty of environmental benefits. There might be a small increase in taxes which would be hardly noticeable compared to the savings gained by the public by not using their own vehicles. There won’t be any tickets to print, and fewer staff would be required.

The main environmental benefits of free public transport are the following:

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions with lesser cars and vehicles

• Reduction in air pollution and smog

• Reduction in noise pollution and congestion

• Reduction in overall consumption of oil and petrol/diesel

• Reduces litter with free tickets, no printing costs

• Saves trees from printing additional tickets

• Reduces spending billions on highways and roads

• Reduces spending on parking spaces especially in cramped cities

And there are more benefits you can find here.

Free public transportation has already been successfully implement in Belgium in Hasselt and is still going strong after 10 years in service.

In Hasselt in 1995, politicians realized public transportation was a mess. Even though buses covered a wide area (500,000 km), there were only fewer passengers. So, Hasselt city council presented this ambitious project to their transport company De Lijn. Their former mayor and late minister Steve Stevaert launched free bus service on July 1, 1997.

The project became an immediate success. Before the launch, there were only 1,000 passengers a day, and the system now attracts more than 12,600 passengers a day. Also, there are more buses and shuttle services covering almost the entire town, so one can move from one part of the town to other without hassle.

With the success in Belgium, will other cities and countries follow this success story? If there is good and fast public transport within the city, I would bet many people would ride it instead of their cars (even for a small fee).

In many places across North America, public transport is inadequate at best. One cannot go from one area to the other without a car. Would you like a free public transport in your city or do you still prefer to take a car to work?