3 ms·

If there's such an uptick in demand it would show that price was what kept people from using public transport. In that case I'm sure there will be a lot of pres

by dx034 4y ago

If there's such an uptick in demand it would show that price was what kept people from using public transport. In that case I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure to make travel more affordable. So far, many claimed that a lack of availability was the reason public transport wasn't used more. I guess the next three months are a good way to validate that.

bowsamic 4y ago
I don't think that would show that. It would show that some people don't want to make the investment for a monthly ticket if they aren't sure that they will use it. Now everyone will use the public transport at all times, without thinking about it. Even if the price for a monthly ticket was half its current price it still wouldn't be a no brainer to get one
iggldiggl 4y ago
A few years ago they already did some smaller-scale experiments in a few cities regarding fares and service offerings and the conclusion was clearly that better service was more effective in attracting additional passengers. Also according to https://www.science.lu/de/faktencheck-gratis-oepnv/was-bringt-kostenloser-oeffentlicher-transport https://www.science.lu/de/faktencheck-gratis-oepnv/was-bring..., while some smaller cities who have experimented with free public transport have seen substantial increases in passenger numbers (but still often only a limited number of conversions from car drivers), the biggest city that tried this so far (Tallinn) only saw an increase in passenger numbers of 8 %. In the recent case of Luxembourg, unfortunately the effects of Covid make it rather difficult to draw any valid conclusions. While I am not opposed to some moderate fare reductions, it should be kept in mind that in Germany, the average farebox recovery ration for local and regional public transport before Covid was around 75 %. Making public transport completely free would therefore mean quadrupling operating subsidies – and if through some miracle politics was really committed to spend that much more and for the long term, I'd much rather see the majority of that amount being spend on better services.

by dx034 4y ago

bowsamic 4y ago

I don't think that would show that. It would show that some people don't want to make the investment for a monthly ticket if they aren't sure that they will use it. Now everyone will use the public transport at all times, without thinking about it. Even if the price for a monthly ticket was half its current price it still wouldn't be a no brainer to get one

iggldiggl 4y ago

A few years ago they already did some smaller-scale experiments in a few cities regarding fares and service offerings and the conclusion was clearly that better service was more effective in attracting additional passengers. Also according to https://www.science.lu/de/faktencheck-gratis-oepnv/was-bringt-kostenloser-oeffentlicher-transport https://www.science.lu/de/faktencheck-gratis-oepnv/was-bring..., while some smaller cities who have experimented with free public transport have seen substantial increases in passenger numbers (but still often only a limited number of conversions from car drivers), the biggest city that tried this so far (Tallinn) only saw an increase in passenger numbers of 8 %. In the recent case of Luxembourg, unfortunately the effects of Covid make it rather difficult to draw any valid conclusions. While I am not opposed to some moderate fare reductions, it should be kept in mind that in Germany, the average farebox recovery ration for local and regional public transport before Covid was around 75 %. Making public transport completely free would therefore mean quadrupling operating subsidies – and if through some miracle politics was really committed to spend that much more and for the long term, I'd much rather see the majority of that amount being spend on better services.