Free public transport, always and for everyone: a debate that has been going on for years. On the one hand, the undoubted utility to relieve traffic congestion in cities, on the other, the exorbitant costs and the difficult economic coverage of the service, to be paid by the community. While in Italy, in Milan, the price of the bus and metro ticket will be increased to 2 euros starting from 2019, there are already some experiments in Europe that open up the free use of local public transport to everyone. The most relevant case is that of small Estonia: tested (subject to a referendum) in the capital Tallinn since 2013, this year the formula has been extended to the whole country. In reality, free travel is not really for everyone: tourists continue to pay, with the ticket price having risen to 2 euros, to use the 70 bus lines, 5 trolleybus lines and 4 tram lines in Tallinn. To the half million resident citizens of the capital instead, it is enough to buy a one-off green card at a cost of 2 euros and make sure you bring ID with you. Costs? Covered, even more so, thanks to a "trick": to use the public transport for free, you must register as a resident of Tallinn.
Not a trivial detail given that the Eltis study centre, which deals with town planning and transport, estimated that from April 2012 to January 2014, people registered as residents in Tallinn increased by 14, a figure three times higher than registrations made in 2012: the prospect of free means has therefore convinced many people to transfer their residences and this - through the higher taxes collected - it actually financed the extension of the lines and the free tariffs for all the inhabitants. “Not only have we covered the costs, but we have earned – commented Allan Alaküla, spokesman for the Municipality -. We have brought into the coffers of the Municipality twice what we have spent since public transport was introduced. This is because many more people are being pushed to register as residents to use public transport”.
While Estonia tries to extend its model to the whole country, France is following in its footsteps. Small cases of free (often mostly partial) public transport are found in various European countries, above all Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, but the first case, even earlier than that of Tallinn even if smaller in size, is that of Aubagne, a town of 47 inhabitants in the south of France whose public transport system serves an area of about 100 people. The bus and tram system was made free in 2009 by increasing a transport tax levied on local businesses. The results, contained in a book published by a local city councilor and summarized in a book review in MetroPolitics, were “a 142% increase in passengers between 2009 and 2012, a 10% reduction in cars in the same period and a user satisfaction rate of 99%”.
Now Dunkirk is also trying, a city of 100 inhabitants on the border with Belgium, famous for the battle in the Second World War and whose case could pave the way for none other than the capital Paris. In fact, a few days ago the mayor of the Ville Lumiere, the socialist Anne Hidalgo, paid a visit to Dunkerque to understand its modalities and see how the experiment can work in a city that is infinitely smaller than Paris but still of significant dimensions. The revolution in the French city took place in two stages: in 2015 free public transport was arranged on weekends, while from 1 September of this year it is valid seven days a week and 24 hours a day. Result: in a city where in 2015 66% of journeys were made by car and only 5% by public transport, the use of the latter has now almost tripled on weekends and grown by 50% on weekdays. And the buses are 100% ecological.
A triumph, which however costs the community 4,5 million euros a year. “It's worth it – declared the mayor of Dunkirk Patrice Vergriete, whose mandate was about to expire -. Those 4,5 million are 4,5 million purchasing power that we place in the hands of families, the elderly and students”. “Mobility is a fundamental right for citizens. Free public transport for all is a lever of freedom, equality and fraternity,” said the mayor of Paris.
