A photo taken on on Feb. 29 shows a train at Dudelange's train station as the country inaugurates its free public transports policy. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / AFP / Getty Images
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.
<p>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.</p><p>Rides on buses, trains, and trams were already free on Saturdays but all charges have now been scrapped as the week closes.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/luxembourg-makes-public-transport-free/a-52582998" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><br/></p>
<p>Preexisting sales of €2 tickets had amounted to €41 million ($45 million) or just 8 percent of Luxembourg's annual transport budget of €500 million.</p><p>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."</p>
Commuters, Visitors Will Benefit Too
<p>"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!"</p><p>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."</p><p>Tickets would also be needed for first-class travel on trains.</p><p>To end traffic jams, Luxembourg in 2017 opened the <a href="http://www.luxtram.lu/de/dokumentation/bildergalerie/" target="_blank">first section of its planned tram service</a> from the capital's southern outskirts to its airport to the north.</p><p>And it's now focused on <a href="https://mobilitegratuite.lu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Modu2.0-%E2%80%93-A-multimodal-strategy-BAT-Web.pdf" target="_blank">anticipating travel demand</a>, doubling "Park+Ride" car parking spaces "especially at borders" and establishing "cohesive" cycle routes across its 2,586-square-kilometer (998-square-mile-) landscape.</p><p>Alone for its nascent track network, 4 billion euros are being invested over the period 2018 to 2027, to cater for an anticipated 20 percent rise in public mobility needs by 2025.</p><p><span></span>That amounts to €600 per Luxemburg resident per year on rail transport, says the ministry.</p>Stuck in Traffic
<p>A survey done in 2018 by TNS Ilres found that cars in Luxembourg accounted for 47 percent of business travel and 71 percent of leisure transport.</p><p>By 2030, its public transport fleet is expected to have "alternative drive technology," a reference to electric motorization. </p><p>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.</p>Population Growth
<p> 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 percent, and French at 13 percent. </p><p> 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.<br> </p><p> 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. </p>From Your Site Articles
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A public bus in Luxembourg. pxhere
Luxembourg is about to become the world's first country to make all its public transportation free under the new government's efforts to curb traffic congestion and benefit the environment, The Guardian reported.
The initiative, which will end all fares for trains, trams and buses by summer 2019, is a plan under the environmentally minded coalition government headed by Xavier Bettel, who was reappointed as prime minister on Wednesday.
<p>
The Grand Duchy has a <a href="http://luxembourg.public.lu/en/se-deplacer-au-luxembourg/en-commun/index.html" target="_blank">well-developed public transport system</a> with a national bus and rail network that connects the most important cities and towns in the country.
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Luxembourg is the European Union's wealthiest but second smallest member state, with a population of roughly 600,000 people. At 998 square miles, the tiny country is smaller than Rhode Island.
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However, Luxembourg City suffers from chronic traffic congestion. About 400,000 people—including people from the bordering countries of France, Belgium and Germany—commute to the capital city for work, with each driver spending an average of
<a href="http://luxembourg.public.lu/en/actualites/2017/02/22-bouchon/index.html" target="_blank">33 hours in traffic jams</a> in 2016, according to a study by transportation analytics company Inrix.
</p><p>
Part of the cost of the free transit initiative will be covered by removing a tax break for commuters, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/luxembourg-free-trains-public-transport-trams-buses-when-a8668496.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a> reported.
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<span></span>The new plan still needs to be fully ironed out. For instance, a decision has not yet been made on how to handle first and second class compartments on trains, The Guardian said.
</p><p>
Fares to travel just about anywhere in Luxembourg are already capped at a low price of €2 ($2.30) for up to two hours of travel, according to The Independent. Youth already travel for free and many commuters qualify for a €150 ($170) pass that allows travel on all public transport for a year.
</p><p>
The two-time prime minister's Democratic Party works with the Socialist Workers Party and the Greens, which vowed to protect the environment, invest more in public services and legalize recreational
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/cannabis">cannabis</a> during the recent election campaign, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-12-05/luxembourg-pm-bettel-begins-second-term-of-coalition-government" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f69f9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="VR6E181576662614"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="963835028651298816" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Germany Considers Free Public Transport to Fight Air Pollution https://t.co/Qw91NJi50M @greenpeaceusa… https://t.co/XzwSPOVVJS</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/963835028651298816">1518631152.0</a></blockquote></div>
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