Depending on where you live, public transportation may or may not be a living hell that you need to endure to get to your destination.
But even in developed countries, public transport can present challenges to the commuter.
After all, being packed like sardines during rush hour (and enjoying the aromatic scent of a full day’s worth of underarm sweat) and practically running after the bus or train can be a daunting activity. Never mind that there are real benefits to using public transportation such as less clogged roads and lower CO2 emissions.
This is why governments are trying to convince more people to use public transportation. This isn’t as hard to do in countries where most people can’t afford cars but for those places where cars are an easy alternative, it becomes more challenging.
There have been efforts to make public transportation free for certain sectors like students or PWDs but Luxembourg has taken the bold step forward of making all public transportation totally free. This move took effect on March 3, 2020.
François Bausch, the minister of mobility and public works, believes that “The range, punctuality and quality of the services on offer are crucial to motivating people to change their habits and switch from private cars to public transport.”
This latest move is meant to reduce road congestion and traffic due to private vehicles.
While making public transportation free is a huge “leap of faith,” some people doubt the wisdom of the move. Claude Moyen, for example, uses the train to travel to the town of Diekirch where he teaches. He told The Independent he was worried the quality of his commute may suffer.
“I’m not sure if making public transport free here in Luxembourg will take more people out of their cars,” he said.
In order to better handle the expected influx of commuters taking advantage of free public transport, the government is planning to expand the capacity of Luxembourg’s national rail network as well as doubling the number of P+R parking spaces.
Bausch described it as, “The social icing on the cake of the global strategy for a multi-modal revolution.”
To help defray the cost of offering public transport for free, tax breaks for commuters will be eliminated in the hopes of convincing people to avoid using private cars in Luxembourg.
Replaced!