Zero-fare public transport

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Zero-fare public transport services are funded in full by means other than collecting a fare from passengers. They may be funded by national, regional or local government through taxation or by commercial sponsorship by businesses.

[edit] Types of zero-fare transport

[edit] City-wide systems

Several mid-size European cities and many smaller towns around the world have converted their entire bus networks to zero-fare.

An important variant: From the vantage of the role of public transport as one of a broad range of major non-car options available to serve the community as a whole (the New Mobility Agenda), what is important in this instance is that the service is perceived as being free, exactly as is the case of the mind set of most people when they decide to take their car somewhere, and certainly for short trips. The Catch-22 of the car-based, no-choice old mobility system is that the car trip is not in fact free, far from it, 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 have since the mid-seventies had their own Carte Orange – the remainder of the funds needed to pay for these services come from other sources (mainly in this case from employers, local government).

[edit] Local services

Local zero-fare shuttles or inner-city loops are far more common than city-wide systems. They may use buses or trams. These may be set up by a city government to ease bottlenecks or fill short gaps in the transport network. Others might be 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. Some port cities where shipping would require very high bridges might provide ferries. These are free, just as the use of a bridge would have been. Machinery within or part of 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. Even 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 services is School Buses, where the students do not need to pay in most cases, with the exception of the United Kingdom, where students usually must pay at least £300 annually to use school buses.

[edit] Benefits of zero-fare transport

[edit] 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.

[edit] Community benefits

Some activists promote the idea that all the public transportation in a given city or community should be free. They claim that this would make the system more accessible and fair for low-income residents, and provide benefits such as decreased congestion, faster average speeds, decreased air pollution from cars and related improvements in public health, fewer traffic accidents, easier parking, savings from reduced wear and tear on roads, and savings from not having to pay for fare collection equipment and personnel.

[edit] Environmental and Global benefits

If use of cars is discouraged, zero-fare public transport could reduce local air pollution^{[citation needed]}, and mitigate the problems of Global Warming and Peak Oil.

[edit] Examples of city-wide zero-fare transport

See also: Category:towns and cities with zero-fare transport

• Whidbey Island and Camano Island, Washington State - since 1987
• Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Vail, Colorado - over 20 hours of service every day during Winter
• Logan, Utah and Cache Valley - Logan since 1992 and Cache Valley since 2000
• Clemson, South Carolina
• Commerce, California
• Châteauroux, France
• Compiègne, France; free bus services since 1990s
• Hasselt, Belgium - free bus services since July 1, 1997 (after increasing bus service substantially), which made expensive investments in streets and parking facilities unnecessary.
• Lübben, Germany - influenced by Hasselt
• Mariehamn, Finland - in addition to free bus services, persons and bicycles travel free of charge with the archipelago ferries (you pay a fee for motorcycles, cars, caravans and other vehicles).
• Nova Gorica, Slovenia - since April 2006.
• Türi, Estonia
• Vitré, France - since spring 2001.
• Övertorneå, Sweden - even 70 km free rides on local buses in this rural community

[edit] Examples of Limited zero-fare Transport

See also: Category:towns and cities with limited zero-fare transport

See also: free travel pass

• Adelaide, Australia has free travel on the Glenelg tram within the CBD ([1]) as well as a free bi-directional loop route 99C (City Loop) in the CBD. ([2])
• Ann Arbor, Michigan — free bus services between University of Michigan campuses and student housing. Also, AATA runs a service called "the Link" which runs around the downtown and campus area and is currently free (for everyone) to ride. Note that most large universities provide a similar kind of bus service. While individual rides are "free," typically students pay a transportation service fee as part of their tuition and fee charges.
• Auckland, New Zealand — a free CBD loop service links the ferry terminus, railway station, universities, theatres, casino, galleries and shopping districts using hybrid electric buses.
• Austin, Texas - free bus service (under citywide bus system Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority) is provided between the University of Texas campus and student housing, downtown trolley buses are free as well. Regular bus routes are free during "Ozone Action Days" to encourage more car owners to ride the bus and combat high levels of ozone pollution on a given day.
• Brisbane, Australia has free bus trips around "The Loop" in the CBD on two routes mirroring each other, varying only because of Brisbane's one-way street grid.
• Calgary, Canada - Free light rail transit within the downtown core.
• Charlottesville, Virginia - A free motorized trolley links the campus of the University of Virginia to the downtown area.
• Denver, Colorado — Free 16th Street Mall shuttle bus downtown
• Dordrecht — bus and ferry, some Saturdays at the end of each year
• Ghent — free night bus services (weekends only)
• Halifax, Nova Scotia - free bus route around the downtown area
• Huddersfield, England - Free Townbus daytime bus services in town centre
• Invercargill, New Zealand:
  • The Freebie– a zero-fare loop service in the inner city.^[1]
  • The Purple Circle a free suburban bus circuit^[2].
  • All other suburban bus services operate zero-fare between 9.00am and 2.30pm daily^[2]
• Ipswich, England — A free shuttle bus service runs on a circular route around the town centre linking the site of the former County Council head-quarters to the replacement building.^[3]
• Leeds, England - Free Citybus daytime bus services in city centre
• Manchester, England — Free "Metroshuttle" daytime bus services in city centre with three different routes.
• Manly, Australia - Four routes of free "Hop, Skip & Jump" minibus services throughout the municipality. [3]
• Melbourne in Australia has a free tram around the city center, and a free bus to popular tourist attractions. Both of these connect to other public transport. Free public transport is sometimes offered on major holidays such as Christmas and New Years Eve.
• Miami, Florida – Miami-Dade Metromover is a free people mover in Downtown Miami.
• Mountain Village, Colorado Free cable car to Telluride and shuttle bus.^[4]
• Noordwijk/Oegstgeest — Leiden Transferium — The Hague, express bus, running on weekdays during daytime, free of charge as a test during 2004; it was intended for commuters working in The Hague and living in Leiden or beyond who would otherwise travel by car to the Hague, to promote parking at the Transferium and continuing the journey by bus; the aim was to reduce road traffic congestion between Leiden and The Hague. The test was paid by the province of South Holland. It was discontinued in 2005.
• Perth, Western Australia has free bus and train trips around the city centre (the "Free Transit Zone"), including three high-frequency Central Area Transit (CAT) bus loops. This is also in Fremantle and recently added in Joondalup.
• Pittsburgh, PA, Seattle, Washington (the "Ride Free Area") and Calgary, Alberta (the "7th Avenue Free Fare Zone") offer free public transit within their downtown areas.
• Portland, Oregon — All streetcar, light rail, and bus trips are free within "Fareless Square"[4], a 330 square-block zone, encompassing most of downtown Portland.
• Reading, Berkshire, England — Free shuttle between Reading railway station and Thames Valley Park^[5]
• Renesse (mun. Schouwen-Duiveland), Netherlands — free bus services in the area (in summer only)
• Seattle, Washington — Metro Transit buses are free from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in Downtown Seattle.^[6]
• Sydney in Australia also offers occasional free public transport travel to and from events at particular times, notably New Years Eve celebrations in Sydney CBD, or to ANZAC War Memorial Services for veterans. The rationale is a mix of traffic reduction and cultural recognition. During the two weeks of the 2000 Olympic Games all public transport was free if you had an admission ticket, however everyone ended up traveling free because the normal ticketing system was abandoned.
• Tarbes in France offers a year-long free shuttle bus around the city, linking the main spots.
• Wakefield, England - Free Citybus daytime bus services in city centre

[edit] References

nl:Gratis openbaar vervoer