Publish at November 01 2023 Updated November 01 2023
There's a lot of talk about the ecological transition, and many citizens are still reluctant for public authorities to get involved. Why is this? Because such changes often involve costs being relegated to the middle and poorer classes. So how can ecology and social progress go hand in hand? For Olivier Malay, who is familiar with the situation in Brussels, free public transport would be a way of removing a major item of expenditure from underprivileged families, of which there are many in the Belgian capital.
He studied how this transition was made in 2008 in the French town of Aubagne. Despite fears of incivilities, these did not increase with free transport. With a special tax on companies for their road use (0.4%), they managed to finance this policy, provide a more generous transport plan, and so on.
In the end, the number of trips tripled, and today, no citizen in Aubagne would go back to paying for transport. Since then, other cities around the world have followed suit, including Luxembourg, which has made bus, train and streetcar travel free throughout its territory.
Such a policy is therefore possible, and with no great burden on the public budget (which often spends more on company cars) would be a real choice in favor of public transport rather than the car.
Running time: 10min45
Photo : en.depositphotos.com
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