{UAH} Luxembourg makes public transport free of charge nationwide

Luxembourg makes public transport free of charge nationwide

https://www.dw.com/en/luxembourg-makes-public-transport-free/a-52582998

Luxembourg Transport Minister Francois Bausch hailed a "great day" for
the Grand Duchy, as it became the first country on Earth to make
public transport ticket free.

The small but wealthy nation has introduced free public transport in
an effort to "motivate" residents — and 214,000 daily foreign
commuters — to change their behavior in the hilly region wedged
between Germany, Belgium and France.

Rides on buses, trains, and trams were already free on Saturdays but
all charges have now been scrapped as the week closes.

Read more: Tomorrow's transportation will be electric and shared

Preexisting sales of €2 tickets had amounted to €41 million ($45
million) or just 8% of Luxembourg's annual transport budget of €500
million.

Public transport will now be funded largely via taxes paid into the
national budget, meaning travel savings for private households,
especially "low earners," said Bausch's ministry, adding: "The scheme
applies to residents, cross-border commuters and tourists alike."

Commuters, visitors will benefit too

"You will no longer need a ticket to board any national bus, train or
the tram," proclaimed Luxembourg's public transport consortium
Saturday, adding: "Commuters from neighboring countries will benefit
from reduced fares!"

It warned Luxembourgers however: "Free public transport ends at the
border, so you must get a cross-border pass or ticket if you plan to
travel outside of the territory of the Grand Duchy."

Tickets would also be needed for first-class travel on trains.

To end traffic jams, Luxembourg in 2017 opened the first section of
its planned tram service from the capital's southern outskirts to its
airport to the north.

And it's now focused on anticipating travel demand, doubling
"Park+Ride" car parking spaces "especially at borders" and
establishing "cohesive" cycle routes across its 2,586-square-kilometer
(998-square-mile-) landscape.

Read more: Greening Brussels, planning for climate change

Alone for its nascent track network, 4 billion euros are being
invested over the period 2018 to 2027, to cater for an anticipated 20%
rise in public mobility needs by 2025.

That amounts to €600 per Luxemburg resident per year on rail
transport, says the ministry.

Stuck in traffic

A survey done in 2018 by TNS Ilres found that cars in Luxembourg
accounted for 47% of business travel and 71% of leisure transport.

By 2030, its public transport fleet is expected to have "alternative
drive technology," a reference to electric motorization.

Luxembourg, by area one of Europe's smallest sovereign states but one
of four EU seats, including the European Court of Justice, is staffed
by commuters who travel daily from neighboring France, Belgium and
Germany.

Population growth

The 614,000-person dukedom, with comparatively high wages, is facing
strong growth in population. Almost half are foreigners, including
resident Portuguese citizens making up 18%, and French at 13%.

Read more: German minister blasted over autobahn toll debacle

Bausch, a former Luxembourg rail civil servant and member of the
Greens, is also Luxembourg's deputy prime minister in a three-party
liberal-social democrat-greens coalition government renewed in 2018
and headed by premier Xavier Bettel.

In neighboring Germany, Alexander Handschuh, spokesman for the
country's DStGB local bodies association, said Luxembourg's move
signaled a paradigm shift because it was trying "very resolutely with
an all-round concept" to boost public transport.

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