The tiny principality of Luxembourg has long been a first world country. But its commercial and financial success has seen its streets become increasingly clogged with cars; so much so that the government has just launched a scheme to offer all travellers totally free public transport. By Jeremy Torr.
Just jump on and travel - trams are free everywhere. Courtesy CAF.
Luxembourg, April 2020. The Duchy of Luxembourg, the political, banking and commercial hub of Europe, has under one million inhabitants, and is the second richest country in the world on a per capita basis. This has led to one of the world’s highest car ownership ratios – and consequently to some of the worst daily traffic jams anywhere in Europe.
Luxembourge transport minister Francois Bausch.
“We cannot go on developing our urban spaces like we did in the last century,” warned transport minister Francois Bausch at a recent press conference. “Urban spaces everywhere are clogged up (with cars) and that includes (all of) Luxembourg.” And with the average Luxemburger spending almost 35 hours a year stuck in traffic jams, the problem is getting rapidly worse.
So rather than simply banning cars or imposing punitive charges, the transport ministry under Bausch has waved its wand over its fleets of buses, trams, and trains across the country, and is now offering them to allcomers, free of charge.
The benefits don’t just stop with emptier and more enjoyable streets, said Bausch. He notes that the move will lower pollution and benefit low income earners too.
“For people with low incomes or the minimum wage, for them (this move) is really substantial. So the main reason is to have a better quality of mobility for all, and then a side reason is clearly the environmental issues too,” he added.
The new regime, which came into force at the start of March, will see all standard-class journeys on public transport become free of charge. Previously travellers and commuters would have to pay €440 euros ($485); commuters who crave luxury can still pay €660 a year for first class and sit away from the unwashed masses.
This scheme also extends to the armies of workers that cross the borders from neighbouring Germany, Belgium and France every day to work in offices across the capital; with only 600,000-plus inhabitants, the country needs many more workers to keep its economy rolling. As a result it sees more than 200,000 cross-border workers travel into the city for work every day, which in turn means more than half of Luxembourg’s greenhouse gas pollution come from personal and commercial transport emissions.
Bausch said that the aim is to change the country into one that moves its transport policy into a multi-modal infrastructure operation. “The objective is to have a real mobilisation strategy, really. The move will also brand Luxembourg as a laboratory for new experiences in mobility, and we are ideally placed to try this,” he added.
Traffic jams steal up to 35hrs a year from commuters. Courtesy Luxembourg Times.
Director at Université du Luxembourg, Prof. Benny Mantin adds that the push for more public commuting will be aided by a negative incentive for car owners.
“It will make transport more accessible and faster, and on the other hand it will be making driving very challenging, more expensive, and (will see) the elimination of some parking spots,” he said.
Luxembourg’s government plans to invest €3.9 billion on railway upgrades in the next eight years, and will also spend millions more to upgrade the bus network and park-and-ride facilities at stations as part of the accessibility push for public services.
Realistically, the new approach is not expected to yield instant results in a country that deeply values its wealth and rolling possessions. The government estimates that in five years’ time a significant 65% of commuters will still use cars to get to work. The good news is that figure is almost 75% at the moment, so that is a worthwhile decrease. The aim is to ultimately get at least 20% of Luxembourgians travelling on public transport, a goal that Bausch says is likely to “sensibilise the population to the demands of the 21st century.”
“We want our citizens to live mobility in a multi-modal way,” he said. “It’s a big investment for us at €41 million a year, but we think the time is right.”