Berlin: When the discussion turns to the rising costs of living in many global cities, one factor rarely goes unmentioned: public transport fees. New Yorkers only spend about $116.50 per month on average, compared with up to $200 in London.
Many Germans, however, might soon have to spend a whooping $0.
The country of parental leave, short work weeks and Lederhosen may soon embark on a bold, new experiment: making public transport free. For a start, residents of five middle-sized cities are expected to benefit from the scheme this year, but it could eventually result in the end of bus or subway tickets across the country. The plans are included in a letter the German government sent to European Union officials, and was obtained by a number of news agencies and media outlets.
So far, experiments with free public transport have usually been short-lived. When Paris was plagued by thick smog in 2014, authorities responded with an unprecedented idea – banning half of all cars and making public transport free. But the measures only lasted one week. Limited experiments with free public transport were eventually also stopped in Portland and Seattle.
Germany’s latest, and more radical plans are similarly supposed to solve the lingering problem of air pollution in German cities, which recently prompted the threat of major EU fines.
More than 130 cities in Europe are currently affected by “life-threatening” air pollution, according to the European Commission. They are believed to be responsible for about 400,000 deaths each year in the European Union. And even though Germany is far from being Europe’s most polluted nation, the topic is taken more seriously here than in most other places which have repeatedly breached EU limits on nitrogen dioxide and fine particles.
Source:SMH
