Free public transport

Free public transport, often called fare free public transit or zero-fare public transport, refers to public transport funded in full by means other than collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local government through taxation or by commercial sponsorship by businesses. The concept of "free-ness" is one that may take other forms, such as no-fare access via a card which may or may not be paid in its entirety by the user.

Types

City-wide systems

Tallinn, capital city of Estonia with more than 420.000 inhabitants, and 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.

See list below.

Local services

Local zero-fare shuttles or inner-city loops are far more common than city-wide 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.

See List of free public transport routes for a list of zero-fare routes within wider (fare-paying) networks

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. A notable example is the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, which provides much of the funding to operate the Stevens Point Transit system. All students at the university can use any of the four city-wide 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.

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).

Many large Amusement parks will have trams servicing large parking lots or distant areas. Disneyland in Anaheim, California runs a tram from its entrance, across the parking lot, and across the street to its hotel as well as the bus stop for Orange County and Los Angeles local transit buses. Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California provides tram service throughout its parking lot.

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.

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
• Environmental and public health benefits including decreased air pollution and noise pollution from road traffic

Global benefits

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.

Disadvantages

Several large North American municipalities have attempted zero-fare systems, but many of these implementations have been unsuccessful. A 2002 National Center for Transportation Research report suggests that, while transit ridership does tend to increase, there are also some serious disadvantages:

• A sharp increase in vandalism and hooliganism
• Transit vehicles turning into de facto homeless shelters
• In large transit systems, significant revenue shortfalls
• A significant increase in driver complaints and staff turnover, even though farebox-related arguments are eliminated
• Slower service overall (not collecting fares has the effect of speeding boarding, but increased crowding tends to swamp out this effect)
• Declines in schedule adherence
• Increased costs in security and vehicle-maintenance
• General increase in local and state/provincial taxes (including for those who do not use the bus)

This report suggests that, while ridership does increase overall, the ultimate goal of reducing emissions by enticing drivers to take transit instead is rarely met: because fare-free systems tend to attract large numbers of hooligans, vagrants and other "problem riders", zero-fare systems often have the effect of frightening potential riders back into their cars.

List of towns and cities with area-wide zero-fare transport

For local and/or limited services, see List of free public transport routes

Europe

Estonia

Town/City	Population	Operator	First year	Duration	notes
Tallinn	435,245	2013	since 1.1.2013	Tallinn is currently the largest city offering free public transport for its residents. Commuter trains and regional buses are excluded from the scheme. Tallinn is also the first capital with free public transport for its residents.
Keila	9,873		2013	since 2013-02
Türi	6,174

France

Town/City	Population	Operator	First year	Duration	notes
Aubagne	42,900 (100,000 in the area concerned)		2009	since 2009-05-15	The Aubagne tramway is considered to be the first completely fare-free tram system in the world.|
Bar-le-Duc	15,700		2008	since 2008-09-01
Boulogne-Billancourt	110,000		1992	since 1992
Castres	62,500		2008	since 2008-10
Châteauroux	47,127		2001	since 2001
Colomiers	28,538		1971	since 1971	the first area of France to offer zero-fare public transport which is still in operation at present
Compiègne	12,500		1990s	since 1990s
Figeac	9,900		2003	since 2003-09
Issoudun	13,500		1989	since 1989	has Free in the name of the service (Transport Issoudun Gratuit)
Libourne	23,000		2009	since 2009-01-01 for under 18s since 2010-08-28 for everyone
Manosque	22,200		2010	since 2010-01-01
Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine	15,313		2001	since spring 2001	first French urban agglomeration to do so.

Germany

Town/City	Population	Operator	First year	Duration	notes
Lübben	14,500			has been stopped	influenced by Hasselt
Templin	16,500			has been stopped

Czech Republic

Chronologically ordered

Town/City	Population	Operator	First year	Duration	notes
Třeboň	8,700	ČSAD Jindřichův Hradec a. s.	2002	between 2002-02 and 2007-08	under the mayor Jiří Houdek (KDU-ČSL), city transport has only one bus line (No 340300), influenced by USA school buses
Prague	1,285,000	many operators (first of all Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy)	2002	between 2002-08-15 (ca) and 2002-08-25, during the Vltava flood and flooding of the Prague metro	also always during time of the smog or other emergency (used rarely - 1996/1997 for 2 day, 1992/1993 for 4 days).
Hořovice	6,800	Probo Trans Beroun s. r. o.	2008	since 2008-03	city transport has only one bus line (No 210009 alias C09 or C9)
Valašské Meziříčí	27,300	ČSAD Vsetín a. s.	2009	between 2009-06-14 and 2009-07-14	city transport has 5 bus lines
Přelouč	9,000	Veolia Transport Východní Čechy a. s.	2009	between 2009-12-01 and 2010-03-06	initial price at the newly established first city bus line (No 665101)
Frýdek-Místek	58,200	ČSAD Frýdek-Místek a. s..	2011	since 2011-03-27	only 365-day chip coupon (howerver 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. From 2014 is possible free travel on regional 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.

Slovakia

Town/City	Population	Operator	First year	Duration	notes
Senec	18,000	MAD Senec	2013	since 2013-11-01	city transport has only one bus line

Other European countries

Town/City	Population	Operator	First year	Duration	notes
Gibraltar, Great Britain	29,500	state	2011	since 2011-05
Manises, Spain	30,478
Nova Gorica, Slovenia	31,000		2006	since 2006-04
Hasselt, Belgium	72,000	De-Lijn	1997	since 1997-07-01	1300% ridership increase 1996-2006. In 2013, Hasselt stopped free bus service for adults; riders under 19 still travel for free.
Mons, Belgium	92,000	TEC Hainaut	1999	since 1999-07-01
Kiruna, Sweden	18,090		2011	from 2011 to 2012-12
Övertorneå, Sweden	2,000				even 70 km free rides on local buses in this rural municipality
Żory, Poland	62,625		2014	since 2014-05-01	Unconditionally free for all users.
Lugoj, Romania	37,700		2013	starting 2013-07-01
Ploiești, Romania	201,226	TCE S.A.	2014	starting 31 March 2014	Second largest city in the world that offers free public transport. The benefits are limited to city residents with an income under 3,000 RON per month (about €670).
Cheremushki, Russia	9,000	trams are serviced by Dam's staff			zero fare is official to anybody (de jure service line because the taxes would be higher than revenues)
Ilioupoli, Greece	78,153	municipality			Free transportation to all, but only local buses, for specifically only local municipality buses.
Akureyri, Iceland	18,803		2007	Since 2007-01-01

• 

  Polling place in the historic tramway Gotha G4-61

• 

  Tallinn's residents vote for free public transportation on March 24, 2012

Americas

Brazil

Town/City	Population	Operator	First year	Duration	notes
Agudos, SP	36,700	local government	2011	since 2011
Ivaiporã, PR	31,812	local government	2011	since 2011
Porto Real, RJ	16,574	local government	2011	since 2011
Potirendaba, SP	15,449	local government	1998	since 1998
Paulínia, SP	86,800	local government	2013	since 2013
Muzambinho, MG	21,975	local government	2011	since 2011
Pitanga, PR	32,645	local government	2012	since 2012

United States

Town/City	Population	Operator	First year	Duration	notes
Boone, North Carolina	17,122	AppalCart	1981	since 1981	combination of funding from the town, Appalachian State University, Watauga County, and state and federal agencies.
Cache Valley, Utah		Cache Valley Transit District	2000	since 2000
Canby, Oregon	15,829	Canby Area Transit
Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	70,000+	Chapel Hill Transit	2002	since 2002	operated by the Town of Chapel Hill to serve Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and UNC-Chapel Hill; supported by taxpayers and University fee-payers
Clemson, South Carolina	11,939	Clemson Area Transit			partnership between Clemson University and surrounding communities
Commerce, California	41,000	City of Commerce Municipal Bus Lines			all transportation services are free of charge
Coral Gables, Florida	42,871
Corvallis, Oregon	54,462	Corvallis Transit System	2011	since 2011-02
Emeryville, California	9,727	Emery Go Round
Island County, Washington	81,054	Island Transit	1987	since 1987
Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho	3,003	Mountain Rides
Lebanon, New Hampshire	13,151	Advance Transit			combination of state and federal funding and from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth College. Also serves Hanover and White River Junction, Vermont
Logan, Utah	49,534	Cache Valley Transit District	1992	since 1992
Macomb, Illinois	20,000	Go West Transit	2006	since 2006
Mammoth Lakes, California	8,234	Eastern Sierra Transit Authority
Marion, Indiana	29,948	Marion Area Transit System	2008	since 2008
Mason County, Washington	61,019	Mason Transit Authority	1992
Sandy, Oregon	9,570	Sandy Area Metro	2000	since 2000
Stanford, California	13,809	Stanford Marguerite Shuttle
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minnesota	51,853	U of M Transitway	1992	since 1992
Vail, Colorado	4,589				over 20 hours of service every day during winter
Vero Beach, Florida	140,000	GoLine			free 14-route public transit system serves 700,000 annual riders
Wilmington, Vermont	2,225	Deerfield Valley Transit Association	1996	since 1996	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".
Wilsonville, Oregon	19,509	South Metro Area Regional Transit

Perception and analysis

Free public transport creates the perception of a no-cost service, just as car drivers commonly perceive no cost to deciding to take their car somewhere. The catch of the car-based system is that the car trip is not in fact free, but it is generally perceived as such.

Likewise, this perception of freeness is important for public transport, which is far more environmentally and resource efficient than own-car travel – which means in this case that full access to the system need not be altogether “free” for its users but that from a financial perspective is becomes (a) front-loaded and (b) affordable. The invariable fact of life of delivering any public service is that the money to do so must come from somewhere – and of “free” public transport that once the user has entered into some kind of “contract” with her or his city – for example a monthly or annual transit pass that opens up the public system to unlimited use for those who pay for it. Now, how they pay and how much will be part of the overall political/economic package (“contract”) of their community. In cities that offer such passes – as is the case to take but one example in most cities in France that since the mid-seventies have had their own Carte Orange – the remainder of the funds needed to pay for these services comes from other sources (mainly in this case from employers, local government).

Left-wing advocacy groups, such as the Swedish network Planka.nu, see zero-fare public transport as an effort in the redistribution of wealth. It is also argued that transportation to and from work is a necessary part of the work day, and is essential to the employer in the managing of work hours. It is thus argued that financing of public transportation should fall to employers rather than private citizens.

See also

• Movimento Passe Livre, Brazilian movement campaigning for free public transport
• Reduced fare programs
• Planka.nu Swedish membership network which pays the penalty fare if you get caught without paying ticket
• Universal transit pass

External links

• freepublictransports.com Network of groups promoting free public transport
• freepublictransit.org Advocacy website
• en.wordpress.com/tag/free-public-transport/ World Streets summer 2010 series on Free Public Transport
• Argument against free public transport