Take a Cool Guess—The Fun Quiz on Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability. Today’s Topic: Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) with Public Transportation
Question: What country just became the world’s first to reduce VMT with free public transportation?
Answer: Can be found at Clean Energy Answers.
Relevance: The future of transportation is anyone’s guess. It sure looks like autonomous is happening at an astonishing pace. Regardless, mass transit will reduce emissions from transportation more profoundly than any other solution.
OK, but how do you cost-justify making it free? How about healthcare costs associated with lung disease, fewer deaths, and less environmental damage?
Craig,
Luxembourg is a great little country, but with only 590,667 inhabitants and 998.6 sq miles, the whole country is only the size of a smallish city or American county.
Luxembourg has one of the highest emissions of carbon dioxide per person in Europe. second smallest forecast of renewables in 2020.
One of the drawbacks to free public transport is the fear that homeless and generally itinerant people will inhabit the transport system making public transport less safe and less attractive for ordinary commuters especially during the winter.
The abolition of the popular comfortable, clean first class carriages may also deter some commuters. The costs associated with healthcare, lung disease, fewer deaths, and less environmental damage will not be helped if traveling on public transport becomes less attractive.
The incoming government, consisting of a coalition of leftist and green parties will abolish the tax destructibility of transport fares, and “redeploy” those involve in selling and policing ticket sales.
Many cities around the world have incentives for free, or low cost public transport it will be interesting to see the results of Luxembourg’s new policies.
I live in a city with one of the best, most extensive and cheapest public transport systems in the world. Since the system was privatized it’s become far more popular with new clean rolling stock and efficient policing.