this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
580 points (98.8% liked)

World News

39143 readers
2176 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] LwL@lemmy.world 22 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The article says that 90% of 39 million euros in public transport revenue came from locals, so the cost should be around 35 million, perhaps with some savings on staff or infrastructure since fewer people have to buy tickets (as well as possibly less road maintenance if fewer people use cars as a result). And the city is financing it through a new tax on companies with more than 11 employees.

It's not a world ending amount of money, so I don't see why it shouldn't be viable. Germany's 49€-ticket, while currently having some financing trouble, is similar too in that it is extremely cheap, and is nationwide, and it happened in a nation with an extremely strong car lobby.

It's not free, but it should be possible anywhere with enough political will.

[–] JimmyMcGill@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

A small correction. The article says:

Last year city residents accounted for 90% of the 39 million euros in public transport ticket sales.

So 90% of the tickets were bought by locals, not that 90% of the total revenue of that public transport service came from the tickets that locals bought. In fact this number is wildly overestimated. A lot of PT services operate based on taxes (same as this policy) and in many cases the revenue from tickets can be as low as 10%.

Honestly considering that only 10% of the tickets are coming from non residents I am surprised that it’s not free for everyone. For sure the loss of revenue there will be very small compared to the increased efficiency in operations, either from less maintenance/employees required but also to make onboarding faster/easier.

I was also not aware of these numbers until recently, when I heard thr Freakonomics episode on free public transportation.

[–] KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

i get the equvalent of a 49€-Ticket for 25€ at my company. that's a great deal. unfortunately public transport is extremely unreliable in my part of the city, so i can't really use it to get to work. plus i save an hour of my time every day i drive to work.

[–] LwL@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I get it for effectively 32€ through my employer due to the payment being pre-tax and a slight discount on top. Sucks that public transport is so poor for you, I only use it when it's really cold but going by bus takes maybe 5 minutes longer than cycling for me, and I'd guess maybe 10 minutes longer than if I had a car and used that.

For me the ticket is worth it just for the occasional regional train, though. Visiting family for christmas over 2 days already pays for it for an entire month, since the train ticket itself would be 20€ one way.

[–] KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

i still have it because i need it for school. which is is the middle of the city, and we regularly have multiple people who are late. often more than 20 minutes. it seems to be shit everywhere i my area.

[–] reev@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 months ago

Quite a few companies here cover the cost of the 49€ ticket so lots of people effectively get it for free.