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[ox-en] Free (as in beer) public transport



Hi

I have been arguing for a long time with people that all public
transport should be free, I only today discovered that it has been
tried in one place:

  Doing away with ring road brought about urban regeneration

  An item by Guy Dauncey, adapted from his Econews No. 94.

  68,000 people live in the Belgium town of Hasselt; another 200,000
  people commute in and out every day. Faced with rising debt and
  traffic congestion, the mayor decided to abandon plans to build a
  third ring road around the town. Instead, he closed one of the two
  existing ring roads, planted trees in its place, laid more pedestrian
  walkways and cycle tracks, increased the frequency and quality of the
  bus service and announced that public transport would be free of
  charge.

    'The use of public transport has increased by a staggering 800 per
    cent'

  A year later the use of public transport has increased by a staggering
  800 per cent. The merchants are happy because business has increased;
  there are fewer accidents, fewer road casualties and there has been an
  increase in social activity.

  The same day that the town made the buses free, they also slashed
  local taxes - the inhabitants of Hasselt are now paying less than they
  were ten years ago. More people are attracted to Hasselt because it is
  easier to get there and the extra income has reduced the local taxes.

  One of the reasons the measure was adopted was a shortage of funds -
  the city did not have enough money to expand its roads. Free buses
  were a cheaper alternative, and it worked. The city had been slowly
  losing population, but since the new measures were adopted, the
  population has been rising 25 times faster than it was shrinking.

  Hasselt has been showered with international awards and prizes for the
  innovative way it has tackled congestion and pollution.

  Guy Dauncey, Econews, Sustainable Communities Consultancy 395 Conway
  Rd, Victoria, BC, V8X 3X1, Canada (tel/fax 250 8811304 (w); 250 881
  1555(h); e-mail: guydauncey earthfuture.com; web:
  www.earthfuture.com).

  http://www.globalideasbank.org/inspir/INS-155.HTML

Chris

-- 
weblog: http://chris.croome.net/#blog
photos: http://chris.croome.net/photos/
_______________________
http://www.oekonux.org/



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