Fare-Free New Zealand

Luxembourg celebrates five years of free public transport

2025-04-14T19:44:00.003+12:00

2025-02-19T13:00:00.000+13:00

Serbian capital goes for free public transport

2024-12-20T14:19:00.002+13:00

Belgrade to make public transport free from January 1

The Serbian capital is set to make public transport entirely free for people in a bid to ease traffic congestion and delays.

Belgrade is set to offer free public transit for all residents beginning January 1, 2025.

The offer means "no one will have to pay for a ticket anymore," the mayor of the Serbian capital, Aleksandar Sapic, announced on Wednesday.

The city with 1.7 million residents is one of the few major European capitals without an underground system.

But it is not the first in Europe to have made public transport free — with others like Luxembourg and Estonia's Tallinn already having done so.

High congestion on roads

Belgrade has a high density of cars, with residents facing hours of gridlock as they move about the city.

The number of cars has increased by 250,000 over the past decade, Sapic noted.

Even though authorities have promised a metro system by 2030, the plan has faced many delays that have stalled the project so far.

Sapic also vowed to fully replace the city's fleet of buses, trams and trolleybuses by 2027.

The Belgrade tram system has existed since 1892 and has a total length of 127 kilometers, twisted around the city, making it one of the longest networks in Europe.

rm/jsi (Reuters, AFP)

Driving ourselves to destruction

2023-09-12T08:18:00.003+12:00

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/driving-ourselves-to-destruction-road-expansion-is-the-highway-to-hell?fbclid=IwAR1dLwn4aiNDOjsij-kA-he8ZijdpEPA5b_eNPjoCdVnOISZpzoSsZS1PzU_aem_AXm-7_G4pgnlBMuteGNeBrtR8ufgTo0_8s4oW8N86U6fOXReimx6BSb3VRcHYVo7_cY&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

2023-05-01T07:59:00.004+12:00

‘How do we make public transport as much loved as libraries?

2023-04-28T20:47:00.000+12:00

Auckland Transport CEO Dean Kimpton (photo: Michael Craig)

In Simon Wilson’s revealing interview (Weekend Herald, April 22), new Auckland Transport chief Dean Kimpton wonders, “How do we make public transport as much loved as libraries?” Although he correctly identifies many other key ingredients to ending traffic congestion such as “rapid, frequent, safe, clean public transport”, the obvious comparison with libraries that Kimpton overlooks, is to make public transport services free at the point of use.

Roger Fowler,

Fare-Free NZ.

Building a movement for effective action to combat climate change

2023-04-08T12:19:00.006+12:00

Fare-free NZ spokesperson Roger Fowler, with panel members Christine Rose, Elliot Crossan and Green MP Chloe Swarbrick.

A well-attended ‘Rise Up Against Climate Cuts’ meeting in Auckland on Thursday heard from a range of speakers including GreenPeace climate campaigner Christine Rose, Elliot Crossan from System Change Not Climate Change, Roger Fowler from Fare-Free NZ, Xavier Walsh from Unions Auckland, Takutai Moana Kemp, Te Pati Maori candidate, Joe Carolan for Unite Union, and Green MP Chloe Swarbrick.

Fare-Free NZ spokesperson Roger Fowler said the climate crisis is here now and deadly serious. ‘We need to take this seriously and put the country on a ‘war footing’ to combat climate change.’

Fowler advocated that Free Public Transport can be one effective means to ‘turn around this obsession with cars’ and dramatically cut the number of vehicles, and reduce air pollution and emissions that are a major contributor to global warming.

But it’s not just a matter of zero fares - Free Public Transport will need to have frequent top-quality 24/7 services with an increased fleet of modern zero-emission vehicles, integrated colour-coded routes, free wifi, easy access and ‘Public Transport Ambassadors’ to assist passengers and deter anti-social behaviour - and free up the drivers to focus on their job: getting everyone to where they need to go safely.

To address the shortfall of drivers, Fowler said they need to be respected - ‘treat them like rock stars and pay them like surgeons!’

Funding could start now by diverting the billions of dollars allocated to current and proposed extravagant roading projects, and the ‘National Ticketing System’ (estimated to cost $1.3 billion). Why build more motorways and under-harbour crossings to encourage more traffic when we need to cut traffic volumes?

Other measures should include expanding electrified rail for passengers and freight, boost coastal shipping to get freight off of trucks, expand modern ferry services (also with zero-fares) and upgrade walking, cycling facilities and open public spaces.

Fowler called for building a strong people’s movement to build pressure to demand effective action to combat climate change.

‘We need to make public transport sooo attractive that few people would choose to go by car’ he said.

High quality free and frequent public transport could be that game changer - ‘to dramatically cut traffic congestion, reduce emissions, make roads safer, increase social cohesion, cut travel costs as well as combat climate change.’

2023-04-04T16:25:00.000+12:00

2022-09-14T18:40:00.003+12:00

Why free public transport is the climate crisis solution

2022-08-19T16:45:00.000+12:00

By Martyn Bradbury, Daily Blog, August 19, 2022 (Abridged)

The time for Free Public Transport as a solution to the climate crisis is now.

We urgently need to shift people out of private transport and onto public transport.

This would have an enormous benefit on the poorest amongst us who pay 20% of their wage on transport while taking vast numbers of people off the roads in their cars.

We must nationalise our public transport fleet and look at vast new investment inside cities and intercity.

That includes a vast upgrade on rail.

The Truck industry have had political dominance for too long.

Rather than continue to subside the NZ Trucking Mafia, we should subsidise public transport.

The floods you are seeing, the scorching temperatures, the heat waves – ALL of this is happening at speeds and jumps in temperature far outside where Scientists were expecting.

The climate crisis is here and we aren’t ready.

New China crisis poses fresh global threat as ‘extreme’ disaster unfolds

China is facing its most extreme heatwave in 60 years – and the impact is set to be felt worldwide.

Severe heat and drought has plagued the world’s second-biggest economy for weeks on end, with temperatures soaring above 40C in a string of large cities.

As a result, the unprecedented demand for airconditioning has caused the power grid to buckle, while the drought has also reduced water levels and therefore the ability to generate electricity at hydropower plants.

It’s a nightmare scenario for the nation of 1.4 billion, and has seen some provinces resort to drastic measures.

Free public transport and vast upgrade of that infrastructure is a solution and part of the future’.

(Abridged)

‘Government should act now’

2022-07-29T20:59:00.002+12:00

Free Fares NZ announcement, 29 July 2022

On Thursday morning, the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Annual General Meeting passed a remit supporting our call for central Government to fund free public transport for under-25’s, tertiary students, Community Services Card Holders, and Total Mobility Card holders and their support people.

Having the largest local government association back our ask is a big moment for our kaupapa.

One of our organisers Mika Hervel says “Free Fares is not a fringe idea. It is not absurd, or even unrealistic. Every day, more and more people are backing our calls to central Government and the support of LGNZ’s remit this morning is indication that this is no longer a partisan issue. The Government should act now.”

https://freefares.nz/

Kansas City’s Zero Fare Transit Program Shows Major Success – And What Still Needs to Be Done

2022-07-29T07:36:00.001+12:00

By Sandy Smith, NextCity, 27 July 2022

Kansas City, Missouri, made national headlines in the fall of 2019 when its city council voted unanimously to become America’s first large city to make public transportation free citywide. Now, two and a half years later, anyone living anywhere in the city can ride buses without paying a fare.

How has that worked out for the riders and the city?

Survey data shows the move has largely been successful in advancing local transit equity – though it also highlights what remains to be done to allow all Kansas Citians equal access to the sprawling metropolitan area.

A study conducted as part of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City’s annual “State of Black Kansas City” report last year asked 1,686 riders for their feedback on what Zero Fare has enabled them to do. The responses show how a Zero Fare policy makes a big difference in these riders’ ability to exercise the so-called “right to the city.”

Almost 90% of the riders surveyed said they rode the buses more as a result of Zero Fare. About 92% said it allowed them to shop for food more often; 88% said they could see their healthcare providers more easily or more often; 82% said it allowed them to get or keep a job; and 86% said it made them feel like city leadership is concerned about their needs — a sore subject for mostly-Black East Side residents, who often complain that the city pays more attention to its whiter and more affluent west side.

Continue to read - Link to original post: https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/kansas-city-zero-fare-free-transit-program-shows-major-success?fbclid=IwAR3v5vQjzT3lCsjPGwdoDLqtFIc9odnktK7OPOxSu-w6yN5iVomiMwTgtys

ODT: Free & fair: The case for free buses

2022-07-25T10:29:00.003+12:00

Otago Daily Times, Monday, 25 July 2022

By Bruce Munro

PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY

Our thinking about public transport is all wrong, argues Prof Alex Macmillan. But others disagree. With the cost of living soaring and half-price public transport already here, Bruce Munro takes a look at the case for free buses.

At this early hour, Catherine Herd’s yellow umbrella is a bright, cheerful signal to the approaching bus that passengers are waiting at the suburban Dunedin bus stop.

Most weekday mornings, Herd catches the No 63, Balaclava to Logan Park, from this hilltop stop just around the corner from her Maryhill home to the bottom of inner-city High St. At the end of her working day, the pharmacist then catches it back up the hill.

Like most mornings, the bus is quite full, even compared to pre-Covid times. In recent months, passenger numbers have been boosted by ballooning petrol prices and tumbling bus fares.

Not that the Government-subsidised ticket prices have resulted in Herd taking more trips. Buses have been a key mode of transport since she and her husband returned to the city 11 years ago.

"It’s very convenient. And it’s a conscious choice," Herd says.

"We are trying to be a one-car family, for environmental reasons."

She does, however, appreciate the few extra dollars the half-price fares leave in the weekly family budget.

An extension of the bus fare subsidy would be good, she says. But Herd has not considered a free bus service.

"I haven’t given that much thought. Because I didn’t really think it was ever likely."

Related: Free buses: when radical is sensible

This week, Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Minister of Transport Michael Wood announced a five-month extension to both the 25c fuel tax cut and half price public transport fares.

The measures were first introduced on April 1 as the petroleum price-hiking effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine began to bite, and extended again in June. The latest announcement seems timed to assuage the blow of this week’s revelation New Zealanders are being hit by inflation of 7.3%, the highest in three decades.

The effect of the reduced petrol tax take has been mixed. Robertson says it has helped keep the cost of delivering goods, and therefore goods themselves, from rising even higher. But Consumer NZ says four out of five New Zealanders are driving less to counter costly fuel prices.

Half-price public bus, train and ferry tickets, in tandem with rising fuel costs, have funnelled more people away from their cars and on to public transport.

Nationwide, passenger numbers plummeted during the first two years of the global Covid-19 pandemic. But they have been recovering since subsidised fares came in. Since April, patronage on buses and trains in the country’s major cities has risen from 49% of pre-Covid levels to 65%.

Otago has fared better, especially Dunedin.

Figures obtained by The Weekend Mix from Otago Regional Council (ORC) show that, in June last year, Queenstown public bus patronage was 64% of pre-Covid levels. By the start of this month, it was up to 75%. Queenstown’s ferry service did not join the public transport fold until after the start of the pandemic, making pre-Covid passenger comparisons difficult.

Dunedin, however, seems to have truly embraced public transport. June passenger numbers actually gained ground mid-Covid, and by this month were almost 10% higher than in 2019. There were 221,895 trips on Dunedin buses last month, up from 204,362 two years ago.

Could it be just the beginning?

In a world of increasingly frequent climate-crisis heatwaves and floods, in a country that ranks third in the OECD for obesity, in a society where an increasing number of New Zealanders cannot afford to participate equally ... has the idea of freely available public transport come of age?

Some say no.

Christopher Luxon, leader of the National Party, for example, has said he is not a fan of free public transport.

Asked in April if subsidised fares were something he would like to see extended further, Luxon said he believed services should not be propped up by taxpayers.

"Ultimately, public transport needs to stand on its own feet. It can't be subsidised or underwritten ... it has to be able to build on its own case," Luxon was reported saying.

Others say public transport should not be free because factors other than price, such as reliability and quality of the transport system, are more important considerations for patrons. If buses were free, they ask, where would the money come from to ensure the service was attractive?

2006 editorial: Worthy of consideration

Is there no such thing as a free bus? Or, can a case be built for free buses?

The Government already intends to make half-price fares permanent for Community Services cardholders when the current subsidies expire at the end of January, 2023.

Imagine if public transport was made free and plentiful for all. If, anywhere you needed to go around town, at any time until late at night, there was public transport just a short walk away, due in a few minutes, to take you there, at no cost.

Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins. PHOTO: ODT FILES

The idea has swelling support.

From politicians and pointy heads to the hoi polloi, people are saying zero-fares public transport is a good idea.

"I've long believed free public transport should be our goal," Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins says.

He cites the urgent need to shift to zero carbon and the detrimental effects of vehicles on human health. It is also about transport justice, Hawkins adds.

"If we want everyone in our community to be able to access what the city has to offer, we need to make sure they can get around it. Free public transport . . . is a huge asset in terms of equity," he says.

Queenstown Mayor Jim Boult. PHOTO: ODT FILES

Queenstown Mayor Jim Boult adds qualified approval. Boosting public transport would help climate goals and alleviate traffic congestion, Boult says. He supports free fares if central government picks up the tab.

Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter says fare-free transit services would be a win for the environment and people, "to make our cities liveable and equitable".

University of Otago’s head of sustainability Ray O’Brien says a free bus service would certainly help shift more people on to public transport.

"Given the increasing costs of living, anything that can save money for families and students is likely to be a popular option."

Research by urban mobility activists Melissa and Chris Bruntlett, of the Netherlands, who have written about international efforts to increase public transport use, found sociological benefits accrue from life with fewer cars — less stress, greater social contact and an increased sense of wellbeing.

Word of the would-be benefits is trickling down.

A recent survey of Aucklanders has shown most of its residents support free public transport. The poll by First Union and the Public Service Association, released three weeks ago, shows 73% of people support making public transport permanently free. That support is across the political spectrum, with the majority of National and Act supporters polled supporting the idea.

Assoc Prof Alex Macmillan. PHOTO: ODT FILES

There might be societal, environmental, health and wellbeing benefits on offer. But, Assoc Prof Alex Macmillan asks, what about the economic case for free public transport?

In particular, the University of Otago public health physician (whose research interests include transport and urban planning) is interested in the comparative costs and benefits of the government’s "investment" in reduced fuel taxes and its "subsidising" half-price public transport fares.

"The first came with health and environmental harms that weren’t valued, while the second was accompanied by un-measured benefits," Prof Macmillan says.

"What [are] the comparative costs of those two schemes?"

It is astonishing how quickly 25c-a-litre mounts up. By January 31, the 10-month long fuel tax cut will have cost the government $1.174 billion in lost revenue.

Half-price fares, on the other hand, are costing the government $122.7 million, less than one-tenth of the fuel tax cut.

Public transport is already largely funded by the public via the Government from Waka Kotahi’s National Land Transport Fund, which gets most of its money from fuel taxes, road user charges, vehicle registrations and licences. Waka Kotahi’s average annual spend on public transport services and infrastructure is $1.23 billion.

Regional councils and public transport fares provide the remaining funds for the country’s public transport services. Pre-Covid, fares across the motu amounted to about $335 million per year.

Here’s what it all means. If high petrol prices had been allowed to wean people off private transport and the fuel tax money had been spent on making public transport free, that $1.174 billion would have provided cost-free public transport across New Zealand, not for 10 months, but for three and a-half years.

And once buses were electric — the ORC announced this week that a new fleet of electric buses will be operating in Dunedin by the end of 2023 — the lower running costs would mean those dollars went even further.

But Prof Macmillan’s interest in the economic argument comes from a fundamentally different place to many speakers in this space.

The whole way we think about public transport is wrong, and needs to be turned on its head, she says.

First, Prof Macmillan tackles the notion that a price has to be paid because people do not value what is free.

"We know that’s not true. When it comes to public facilities that are free — like libraries, our free health system, and education — people use them and appreciate them."

Public transport is in the same category, Prof Macmillan argues.

"It is a public good.

"There is a right to access to the building blocks of health and wellbeing for everybody. And public transport plays a really crucial part in that."

A paradigm shift is needed, she says.

Public transport is viewed as a private enterprise; partially subsidised by the government but required to essentially be a self-sustaining business.

Transport Minister Michael Wood and Minister of Finance Grant Robertson. PHOTO: NEW ZEALAND HERALD

"We really need to move away from that thinking and view it as a public good, just as health and education are viewed as public good."

The concern that free fares would reduce the quality and frequency of services is a false dichotomy, Prof Macmillan says.

"We don’t need to have an ‘or’ there. We just need a proper valuing of public transport; an investment that would mean we have both free fares and high quality public transport because that is what’s needed."

Is free public transport about to round the corner?

Not anytime soon, Transport Minister Wood told The Weekend Mix.

While improving public transport is a priority, zero fares would reduce the revenue the government can then spend on public transport, Wood says.

"We believe our current half price approach to deal with shorter-term cost pressures, and permanent support for lower fares for low income households ... is the best and most balanced approach."

It is not unknown, however, for this Government to change direction mid-stream. And, internationally, the tide does does seem to be floating the zero-fares waka.

In 2012, the 420,000 residents of Tallinn, capital of Estonia, voted-in free public transport. Buses are now free in most Estonian counties.

Chengdu city, central China, with a population of 5 million, has 44 all-day, fare-free bus lines and free transport across its network for two hours each morning.

In 2020, Luxembourg became the first country to make all public buses, trams and trains fare-free. Malta will be the second when it introduces zero-fares in October.

So, what would need to change to ensure successful, free public transport services in Aotearoa?

The Green’s Genter says buses, trains and ferries would need to be "frequent, all day and even on weekends, and ... accessible, safe and clean".

This week, the ORC reduced bus services in Dunedin and Queenstown because of an acute, nationwide driver shortage.

Solving this would be crucial to providing that level of service.

Otago Regional Council chair Andrew Noone. PHOTO: ODT FILES

Queenstown’s Boult and ORC chairman Andrew Noone both favour achieving that through migrant bus drivers.

"It is my opinion that Immigration New Zealand needs to provide support to address staffing shortages by increasing the number of visas offered to those looking to make the move to New Zealand," Boult says.

Noone, expressing his own views rather than council policy, adds that "the pay rates will need to be comparable to other similar roles".

The Government recently agreed to "top up" bus drivers’ wages as a stop-gap measure to ensure a living wage, $22.75 an hour, until better solutions can be found.

Bus drivers are expected to be near the head of the queue for redress when Fair Pay Agreement legislation becomes law, probably late this year.

The other issues — frequency, reliability, travel time, quality — would all be addressed by flipping to a "public good" view of public transport, Prof Macmillan says.

"Viewing it as a public good, worthy of investment."

That would include scrapping "fare box recovery"and recalibrating how transport fund priorities are calculated.

Currently, most of the money is spent on roads, which have a high social, health and environmental cost.

Whereas, public and active transport, which Prof Macmillan says have to go hand-in-hand, has a much higher rate of return.

"We know that those investments bring tens of dollars back to government and society for every dollar spent.

"We need to value the costs and benefits properly, to account for those wider well-being, fairness, social and environmental benefits."

Cameron Hassall can see some of that from Stop F at the Dunedin Central City Bus Hub, on Great King St.

It is already dark as the 20-year-old joinery apprentice waits for the No 36 bus that will take him home to his Mornington flat.

He has his driver’s licence but chooses to spend an hour each morning and evening getting two buses to-and-from his workplace in Green Island.

It is cheaper than buying a car and paying for petrol, Hassall says.

He has noticed more people on buses since the fares were halved.

If public transport were free, even his flatmates might start using it, he says.

"It would be cheaper for everyone, there would be less traffic congestion. It’s a great idea."

Efeso Collins: fare-free public transport to ‘put the future of Auckland first’’

2022-07-11T18:12:00.000+12:00

Auckland Mayoral candidate Efeso Collins

We are fortunate to live in a beautiful city that's home to vibrant communities, boasts destination parks, beaches, eateries and more. It's a place we call home and one we're proud of. But its traffic problems are crippling our productivity and choking the joy out of our city.

That's why my plan for better and more accessible public transport is a plan that puts the future of Auckland first.

My five-point plan includes:

- fares free public transport

- an expanded and more frequent network

- support for electric ferries and integration of ferries into the network

- rolling out Auckland Transport’s parking strategy equitably

- ensuring two councillors sit on Auckland Transport's board so Auckland Council’s vision for a better connected city can be realised.

Free buses ticket to climate savings

2022-07-11T14:51:00.001+12:00

Councillor Angela Dalton

Waatea News, 11 July 2022

A south Auckland councillor is backing a plan by fellow councillor and mayoral candidate Efeso Collins for free public transport.

Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor Angela Dalton says she’s also on a council working group looking at a reduction of transport emissions.
Free buses and trains would help with that goal.
“It will provide more equity for people as long as – the other thing we need to do is make sure those buses are running, are frequent, and in the place they need to be – so I think Efeso is on the right track and It can be funded I believe from within existing budgets because there are things we would just stop doing if we had free public transport,” Ms Dalton says.
More people using public transport means less pressure on road surfaces so they don’t need to be renewed as often.

Adam GiffordAngela Dalton - Free buses ticket to climate savings

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A south Auckland councillor is backing a plan by fellow councillor and mayoral candidate Efeso Collins for free public transport.

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A south Auckland councillor is backing a plan by fellow councillor and mayoral candidate Efeso Collins for free public transport.

Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor Angela Dalton says she’s also on a council working group looking at a reduction of transport emissions.

Free buses and trains would help with that goal.

“It will provide more equity for people as long as – the other thing we need to do is make sure those buses are running, are frequent, and in the place they need to be – so I think Efeso is on the right track and It can be funded I believe from within existing budgets because there are things we would just stop doing if we had free public transport,” Ms Dalton says.

More people using public transport means less pressure on road surfaces so they don’t need to be renewed as often.

Air pollution from cars killing thousands of NZers yearly

2022-07-08T21:39:00.000+12:00

By Kirsty Frame, RNZ, 6 July 2022

In findings which have startled scientists, new data shows car pollution is killing thousands of New Zealanders each year and costing the country billions of dollars.

Photo: 123RF

The first-of-its-kind study has measured the health impacts of nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas emitted by fossil fuel cars.

It found 3300 people were dying yearly because of air pollution, and it was mostly because of cars.

That meant as a whole, 10 percent of the people who died each year in the country were dying because of air pollution.

Exposure was also sending more than 13,000 people to hospital for respiratory and cardiac illnesses and giving the same number of children asthma.

The social cost of these health impacts was estimated to be $15.6 billion.

The study, Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand, was conducted by New Zealand experts in air quality, health, and economics.

It was the study's third instalment since 2012, but for the first time, pollution data from vehicles was measured.

The new numbers were more substantial than previous records of air pollution - making car pollution more harmful than the damage household fires caused.

Researchers said the extent of the nitrogen dioxide impacts were "unexpected" and "startling".

Nitrogen dioxide emission in New Zealand is almost exclusively from burning petrol and diesel.

The country has almost 4.4 million motor vehicles and that figure is on an upwards trend.

Fossil fuel cars killing thousands

Previously, air pollution measured in the country had been largely from fine pollution particles - which came from domestic fires, car brakes, and industry.

That pollution caused an estimated 1300 deaths in adults per year.

A closer look now showed that a further 2000 people were dying because of exposure to nitrogen dioxide.

That was because the pollutant was a major factor in stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.

Young children, elderly, asthmatics and people with pre-existing heart or lung diseases were most vulnerable to both forms of air pollution.

Hospitalisations and unhealthy children

The new figures more than doubled Aotearoa's air pollution hospitalisation statistics.

Nitrogen dioxide is sending an estimated 8500 people to hospital with cardiovascular or respiratory illness, compared to 4600 from other air pollutants.

An extra 6000 people are being hospitalised with a respiratory condition from nitrogen dioxide exposure.

It brings the total annual hospitalisations from all air pollution to 13,100.

New Zealand already has some of the highest asthma rates in the world, and the new research estimated that 13,200 cases of asthma in children were exclusively because of car pollution.

The cost of the harm

Not only is air pollution killing people and harming their health, it is costing the country $15.6b; and 60 percent of that is because of nitrogen dioxide.

The "social costs" of air pollution calculated in the study took into account the costs to society when people were sick or died from exposure.

It was not just in terms of the direct medical costs with illness and death, but a loss of output from people taking time off work, school and the loss of income.

The study used a "value of statistical life" which was the same used to cost road crash deaths.

At 2019 prices, that was $4.5 million per person's premature death.

It also estimated a cost of $36,000 for each person admitted to hospital with cardiac issues, and $31,700 for people with respiratory issues triggered by air pollution.

Childhood asthma hospitalisations are costing the country $1800 per case.

Air pollution is also causing 1.745 million restricted activity days - days where people cannot do the things they normally would because of the bad air.

Increased air pollution also makes people less likely to engage in physical activity, which of itself has wide-ranging public health impacts.

Data for the study was collected from 2016 statistics because at the study's commencement in 2019, it was the most suitable on hand.

NZ's low pollution levels still have 'quite significant health effects' - study leader

Click below on the online dashboard launched today to find out which areas in New Zealand suffer the worst air pollution.

Health and air pollution in New Zealand

Dr Gerda Kuschel, the study's project lead, said the results were so unexpected the team had to review them twice.

"We were quite shocked, and of course your first response is, 'well have we done something wrong?' So we went through a very rigourous internal review of the results and the calculations because it was so unexpected," Kuschel said.

Much of the research on health impacts of nitrogen dioxide had been for countries with higher levels of air pollution.

"We're in a really privileged position on the one hand, in New Zealand we do have low levels of air pollution but unfortunately we've still found out that this is an issue and has quite significant health effects."

On the $15.6 billion price tag of air pollution, Kuschel said it was one way of measuring the burden of air pollution.

"It's the cost to society - if someone is sick or dies there is a loss of productivity to the economy. That person can't work, family members are probably having to look after somebody," she said.

The impacts were also inequitable - not only to vulnerable groups, but people who were around more traffic.

NIWA air quality scientist Dr Ian Longley said "If we live in a quiet residential street, there is some traffic pollution around, but if you live next to a major road the levels will be double. Particularly if you live near roads which have a lot of congested traffic or those where there are a lot of clusters of tall buildings".

Dr Ian Longley has been studying car pollution for two decades and said the results were not surprising - but hopefully were a wake-up call.

Ministry for the Environment senior analyst Drew Bingham said while New Zealand still had low levels of air pollution there was no such thing as "safe levels".

"We still find important health impacts, and that's not to say that New Zealand has great air pollution all the time everywhere, we do know that there are places where air pollution can be at quite high levels."

Associate Minister for the Environment Phil Twyford noted that the data was collected before Labour was in government.

The study used data from 2016.

"This report provides a snapshot of the decade of decline before our government was elected, and underscores the importance of the environmental progress we have made for the health and well-being of New Zealanders," Twyford said.

"It also provides further evidence of why we need policies like the Clean Car Discount which has just recently seen a record amount of EVs and hybrids registered in its first year, state sector decarbonisation projects like getting rid of coal boilers in schools, and reform of our resource management system which will require prescribed limits on air pollution."

Car ownership statistics for the country, the most recent of which were from 2019, still showed an upwards trend of 4.4 million vehicles.

Aucklanders Overwhelmingly Support Fare Free Public Transport

2022-06-30T13:31:00.000+12:00

Wednesday, 29 June 2022, 12:28 pm
Press Release: First Union

New polling out this morning confirms that Aucklanders overwhelmingly support fare free public transport. These results follow the release of a report jointly co-commissioned by FIRST Union and the NZ Public Service Association Te Kauae Kaimahi, making the case for fare free public transport.

"Working class communities in Tamaki Makaurau are doing it tough, as rising costs follow on from a brutal pandemic period. Fare free public transport will reduce costs for many families, putting climate action within reach," said Louisa Jones, FIRST Union Assistant General Secretary.

"Universal free public services are a great way to alleviate financial pressure on low income families without creating further inflationary impacts. Fare free public transport is an ideal pandemic recovery policy at this point in time."

"Bus drivers are proud to be able to do their part to help our communities get by, but low wages and poor working conditions are impacting driver recruitment and retention."

"Implementing fare free public transport will have to be accompanied by real improvements in bus driver remuneration and working conditions."

The poll of 772 Aucklanders, commissioned by mayoral candidate Efeso Collins and conducted throughout June by Talbot Mills, showed 73% of people support making public transport permanently free. Just 7% of those surveyed opposed making public transport permanently free, with 17% neutral and 4% unsure.

The poll also revealed strong support for fares-free public transport across the political spectrum, with a majority of National and ACT voters (63%) supporting fares-free public transport. 78% of respondents living in central Auckland favoured fares-free public transport.

The case for fare-free public transport in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland

2022-06-28T20:33:00.002+12:00

NEWS & MEDIA

Fare Free Tāmaki Makaurau

PSA and FIRST UNION release a report calling for a Fare Free Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Posted on: 27/06/2022
Less than a minute to read
Tagged with: Network Eco Members Local Government

FIRST Union and the NZPSA have today released a report making the case for fares-free public transport for Tāmaki Makaurau.

The 40-page report draws on lessons from overseas experiences with fare-free public transport, and sets out different models for implementing fare-free public transport in Tāmaki Makaurau, concluding that fare-free public transport represents a sound and viable policy intervention.

The report is authored by New Zealand academic Jen McArthur, an Associate Professor of Urban Infrastructure and Public Policy at University College London.

Read this report here:

https://www.psa.org.nz/assets/DMS/Our-Voice/New-Blog-Post/Fare_Free_Report_Final.01.pdf

Make ‘rapid, deep and immediate’ emission cuts with free public transport

2022-04-07T19:49:00.003+12:00

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report calls for ‘rapid, deep and immediate’ cuts in carbon dioxide emissions. The time to act for climate justice is now or never” says Urs Signer, spokesperson for Climate Justice Taranaki.

Transport contributes to over a fifth of New Zealand’s emissions and is the sector with the fastest rise in emissions. Since 1990, transport emissions here have doubled.

“Taking cars off the roads is the number one thing to do if we are serious about reducing transport emissions. With the introduction of half-price fares for public transport this week, local anecdotal evidence suggests a significant increase in the use of our Taranaki buses.”

“There are now well over 400 members of the ‘I Love Public Transport, Taranaki’ online group and a recent contributor commented that The Connector bus, which links Hāwera and New Plymouth, was so full that three people had to stand. The time is right for free public transport across Aotearoa to reduce our CO2 emissions and ensure people who can no longer afford a car or petrol can still get from A to B and C.”

“In the French city of Dunkirk, not much bigger than New Plymouth, residents have enjoyed free public transport since 2018 with buses running every 10 minutes. Eight months after abolishing fares, patronage had increased by 65% during the week and by 125% during the weekend.”

“We are calling on the government to use this year’s Budget to announce free public transport for all and work together with the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) to upgrade Taranaki’s public transport network by significantly increasing the number of bus runs on each route. A bus every 15 minutes during the day and services in the evening and weekends have got to be implemented urgently to decarbonise our transport needs. What we are currently lacking is political will by the government and TRC councillors to make public transport a viable climate solution.”

“If we want to be serious about transitioning off fossil fuels and private vehicles then we need to get serious about public transport. Making it free helps those who are most vulnerable to climate change. We demand free public transport now” concludes Urs Signer.

Published by Climate Justice Taranaki - a group dedicated to justice, resistance, education and positive actions at the front lines of climate change. View all posts by Climate Justice Taranaki

Join this Webinar on Friday

2022-03-28T20:32:00.003+13:00

Climate Justice - Who Pays for a Just Transition?

Webinar this Friday, 1st April, 7.30pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/941439146522678

RSVP to attend: http://tiny.cc/252quz

As we face increasing climate impacts and a rapid rise in the cost of living, what are our options for a just transition away from fossil fuels, and towards a more just world? Who pays? In this discussion, speakers will share ways they are working for a more transformational future What are some ways we can build a more just health, transport and economic system that will make life better for people and the planet - and ensure people have enough money to live with dignity?

We will also launch a set of demands for Budget 2022.

Speakers confirmed so far:

Edward Miller - FIRST Union

Roger Fowler - editor Fare Free blog

Mika Hervel - Free Fare Campaign

Francie Mountier - Climate Justice Activist

#SocialJusticeIsClimateJustice #RiseUpForClimateJustice

‘The time is right’

2022-03-21T20:51:00.001+13:00

Bryce Edwards: Political Roundup – The time is right for permanent free public transport

March 18, 2022, Democracy Project, Victoria University of Wellington.

The problem with conservative politicians is when dealing with a crisis, they’re always inclined towards doing the minimum possible in the hope that it will be enough.

The current Government is faced with several crises – including that of inequality, climate, and the rapidly rising cost of living. One response has been to halve the price of public transport for three months.

Why not go the whole way and made public transport completely free, permanently?

Getting rid of fares entirely fits with the Zeitgeist, and makes a lot of sense in terms of the aforementioned crises that the public want dealt with. Fare-free public transport could be an example of the Government doing something truly transformative, as promised.

Yes, it would be expensive. But in the greater scheme of things, it’s really not that much. We’ve learnt this week that the temporary fare cut is estimated to cost around $35m over the three months. It’s therefore been calculated that the Government could have easily just abolished fares permanently for something in the region of $320m/year (which is even less than the estimated cost of the petrol tax cuts for three months).

Indeed, the Ministry of Transport has said that although fares normally bring in about $330m, in recent years this has dropped back to about $200-250m due to Covid-induced working from home etc.

So would forgoing these fares really make a big dent in the budget for the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency? Hardly. The agency currently raises about $4b a year through fuel taxes and road user charges. Only a tiny fraction of this currently goes into public transport.

Foregoing about $300m a year in fares is small change when it comes to climate change and the cost of living crisis. But critics will point out that the cost is likely to be higher, because more services would have to be put on to meet higher demand caused by free fares. But surely this would also be a good outcome? Having a higher proportion of the public travelling by bus and train would reduce carbon emissions, which is something the Government is seriously failing to do at the moment.

Central and local government already invest about $800m per year in running public transport, because it’s acknowledged that such services are a public good. The idea of having a part-charge, i.e. a fare, for this public good seems backwards if we really want to get people out of poverty as well as out of cars. After all, other public goods, like libraries are normally entirely free. And there is a growing awareness that things like public swimming pools should also be free. Perhaps we will one day look back and think it’s weird that we used to charge to use a public good like buses, when they are so essential for assisting public life, the economy, and the environment.

In Auckland, mayoral candidate Efeso Collins is promising fare-free travel for that city, and he estimates it would cost $160m in lost revenue, and an extra $60m to upgrade services. And it’s worth noting that Auckland’s Regional Fuel Tax has raised about $500m, of which $285m remains unspent.

A recent report from Auckland Council estimated that fare-free travel would increase public transport use by 23 per cent, decrease car use by 4 per cent, and reduce the city’s emissions by 3 per cent.

Other mayor candidates are also touting free fares as the way forward. There’s some historic precedent for this, too. Leftwing candidate Jim Anderton promised the same in his 1977 campaign, as did John Minto in 2013.

Such demands are likely to feature in many other local government election campaigns this year. And in Christchurch the regional authority is planning to introduce free fares for all under 25s, students and community service cardholders.

Recently the Helen Clark Foundation also come out with a report advocating for greater subsidisation of public transport.

There’s a shift towards fare-free travel in other parts of the world. In 2013 the city of Tallinn in Estonia was the first in Europe to abolish fares. And then in 2020 Luxembourg followed suit. All around the world, cities like Melbourne and Detroit have started to make parts of their transport network free.

Political parties are now playing catchup on this move towards free public transport.
Notably, the Greens have now come out in favour. At the last election their policy was only to make fare-free travel available for those under the age of 18. But the Greens are now seeing the sense in a more radical and universal policy where everyone benefits.

Yesterday they launched a petition for people to sign. But as Stuff political journalist Henry Cooke points out, an ulterior motive is likely to be in the mix: “such petitions are used by the political parties to “harvest email addresses of potential voters”.

So have the Greens been pressuring their coalition partner to deliver something for public transport in the Budget? Not according to party co-leader James Shaw. That they have not been leading the way on a policy that clearly has widespread support reflects how coalition management and compromise currently dominates over their core policy objectives. This is a real danger sign for minor parties in government.

Labour have hinted that they will put more money into buses and trains in the upcoming Budget. Finance Minister Grant Robertson may even have plans to make the half-price fares more permanent. But with a little more pressure applied, Robertson might even feel the need to rejig his draft Budget to come up with something more generous and radical.

Of course proper investment needs to be made in improving the services. Public transport infrastructure has been effectively run down by recent Labour and National governments, as well as by local government politicians more concerned with the needs of private car owners. Investment in infrastructure simply hasn’t kept up with increasing need and population growth. And compared to global use, New Zealand cities now have some of the lower use of public transport in the world.

There will, of course, be opposition to free public transport – especially because it might require more government spending and taxation, meaning the wealthy might see this as a lose-lose situation, in which taxes pay for something that predominantly benefits the poor. National and Act oppose fare-free public transport, with MP Simeon Brown saying yesterday that user-pays is still the best way, and customers need to make a contribution to the cost. Such politicians are always quick to add up the costs of public services, but less keen to draw attention to the benefits (which are intrinsically less quantifiable).

This has been the consensus forever, but there are some signs that Labour might be willing to break free from this. They promised to “build back better” after Covid, which surely means innovating on issues like this. They’ve promised to deal with wellbeing, growing climate emissions, infrastructure deficits and inequality. Getting rid of the petty fares would be an important example of how this could be done. Here’s a simple but effective measure that makes a big difference to all those intersecting problems. But half-measures like fare reductions won’t cut it.

Further reading on free public transport

Henry Cooke (Stuff): Green Party push to make public transport free forever
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Calls for fare-free public transport after Government halves ticket prices
Justin Wong (Stuff): Wellington public transport fares to be halved from April 1
Herald: More than 1200 people call for free public transport, days after Government announced prices will be halve
Dita De Boni (NBR): Mayoral aspirant plugs vision of free public transport nirvana(paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Who says there’s no such thing as a free bus(paywalled)
Today FM: Green Party wants free public transport to ease strain on Kiwi commuters
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Does making public transport free work?

Link to original post: https://democracyproject.nz/2022/03/18/bryce-edwards-political-roundup-the-time-is-right-for-permanent-free-public-transport/?fbclid=IwAR3Bfk-R3ilRu8ST3HVYNmUBXPA4Y1RENX2QyFB-Vcypmp2AFlEMysPU2zc

: Democracy Project and Victoria University of Wellington

Sign the petition for zero fares

2021-11-13T21:03:00.004+13:00

To: Minister of Transport, Michael Wood

Now is the moment for free fares

SIGN THE PETITION

We call on the Minister of Transport, Michael Wood, to implement free public transport for Community Service Card holders, full- and part-time tertiary students, and under-25s nationwide.

We want to see this fully funded by central government in Budget 2022 and free fares beginning in 2023.

We also acknowledge the need for this government to reduce fares for all other passengers and to increase the reach, frequency and quality of services in underserved areas.

Why is this important?

New Zealand should be a place where everyone can afford public transport to stay connected, enjoy our regions, and travel in a way that’s kind to the environment.

But with the high cost of public transport, many people can only afford to travel by private car, causing congestion and harmful carbon emissions. Some people don’t travel at all, and their wellbeing and communities suffer as a result.

The solution is for the government to fund free fares for public transport, starting with low-income groups and under-25s.

The case has never been stronger. New Zealand needs to take bold actions to reduce emissions and improve equity; we also need to address rising living costs and pandemic pressures that are pushing people into poverty. Free fares is a solution. Now is the moment!

The Free Fares petition has hit 2000 signatures in less than one week. Fantastic work getting it out there!

We'd love to double that. Could you send an email blast or newsletter to your members? Text you can use is below.

We've also set an outrageous goal of getting 100 individual councilors to support the campaign... before 18 November. There are 25 on board so far, plus several councils will soon vote on motions of support.

Can you help us? Do you know any individual local city or district councilors that you could ask to support the campaign? That involves adding their name to a public list that will be used on the freefares.nz website and in public media (we'll send out a press release on 18 November). We will also keep them updated about the campaign. If they want to get further involved, they are most welcome. Here's a template you can use to reach out to councilors. Direct them to this sign up form, or send questions to freefaresnz@gmail.com.

Thanks again for your support. A reminder we have weekly strategy meetings, 7pmWednesdays on Zoom, for anyone wanting to join. This week's link is here.

Here's text to you can adapt for email newsletters:

Join the call for free fares. Our organisation has teamed up with dozens of others around Aotearoa to support the Free Fares campaign (freefares.nz). Together we are calling on Transport Minister Michael Wood to make public transport FREE for all under-25s, tertiary students and Community Service Card holders, so that more people can afford climate-friendly options. Everyone should be able to afford public transport, but the high cost leaves many people reliant on private cars or disconnected from their community. Free fares is part of the solution! Sign the petition here: our.actionstation.org.nz/p/freefares.

Best wishes,

Kate Day

Advocacy Enabler

Anglican Movement

kate@anglicanmovement.nz

WHAT IF…URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT WAS FREE FOR ALL?

2021-11-13T20:50:00.001+13:00

Conrad Landin explores the idea of a universal free ride. New Internationalist 5 November 2021

Official delegates visiting Glasgow for the UN Climate Conference in November will receive a free pass for buses, trains and the subway. But once they look around at ordinary punters, they will see that the residents of Scotland’s largest city juggle a daily cacophony of individual paper tickets and separate smart-cards.

Urban and regional transit is as much a part of everyday life as education and housing. When we can move around with ease, we don’t just benefit as individuals – we benefit as a society. It seems like it would be a win-win to make public transport free for users and pay for it out of general taxation.

At first the idea might seem unworkable, but we just need to cast our eyes to the cities, regions and, in one case, an entire small country, that have already implemented it. The Estonian capital of Tallinn has gone part of the way there. The city’s 438,000 residents pay a small fee for a pass that gives them free access to public transport, but tourists still pay full whack. In one sense this supports the city’s transport budget, but it also means there is still a need for expensive ticketing infrastructure and enforcement regimes. Wouldn’t it be simpler to eliminate ticketing altogether and instead levy a tourist tax on overnight stays?

Although public transport was already heavily subsidized in Luxembourg, from 2020 ministers decided to scrap fares and ticket checks on trains, trams and buses in a move that cost just $44 million. Transport is not only free to the grand duchy’s 600,000 residents, but also its many incoming commuting workers and tourists. ‘The objective is to stop the deepening gap between rich and poor,’ François Bausch, the Green politician in charge of the programme, said at the time.

Dunkirk has been another high-profile testbed for fare-free travel – and no, this isn’t a bad joke about World War Two’s Operation Dynamo. In 2018 the town, (population 91,000) revived its public transport system by granting free travel on five express bus lines, each running at a 10-minute frequency. It had the desired result: a survey of bus passengers showed ridership in Dunkirk spiked the next year, with passenger numbers doubling at weekends.

In 2019, Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced free bus and metro rides for women as ‘a gift to our sisters’. In 2012 a woman was brutally gang-raped and murdered on a private bus in Delhi. Politicians concluded that having more women on public transport would improve safety and so decided to address the fact that women were far less likely to be travelling on buses and trains in the first place. The fact that this scheme has been rolled out in region with a 16.9 million population is an encouraging sign that free transport isn’t only workable for small cities in the West.

There is, however, a thorny issue with free travel – the potential for bosses to use it as an opportunity to cut staffing. In Luxembourg, such concerns prompted transport unions to oppose free travel. Given that many transport workers are primarily focused on revenue collection and enforcement, and that corporations have a proven record of using smart ticketing and automatic barriers to cut costs, this argument can’t be dismissed out of hand.

Passenger advocacy groups should instead work with transport unions to make a dual demand for free urban transport, alongside legal staffing guarantees which would make public transport safer and more accessible. Rail ticket inspectors should receive full safety training, and trains should never run with just one ‘safety-critical’ worker on board – a longstanding demand of UK rail unions concerned over driver-only operation. Ticket clerks and bus workers who currently perform spot-checks should be trained to provide assistance to elderly and disabled passengers, and indeed to anyone who requires help on board.

Free travel is not a panacea for inequality, and needs to go hand in hand with measures to make our urban settlements fit for walking and cycling. But as well as the potential for reducing car usage, it could help make public transport safe, secure and accessible for all.

Albuquerque has embraced fare free public transit and the left should too

2021-09-30T16:02:00.000+13:00

By Michael Laxer, the Left Chapter, 25 Sept 2021

What was once seen as an utopian, marginal and fringe idea is increasingly being embraced by mainstream politicians in communities across North America and around the world.

Photo public domain via Wikimedia Commons

In another step forward for the global fare free transit movement, the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico has decided to implement a one-year zero fare trial policy on all its municipal bus routes. With a population in excess of 550,000 this makes the city one of the largest in the world to embrace fare free public transit.

The City Council voted September 20 to put the program into effect beginning January 1, 2022.

Albuquerque joins large cities like Tallinn, Estonia and Kansas City, Missouri that either have full free public transit or a version of it.

In the case of Kansas City, the City Council began to start rolling out zero fare transit a few years ago starting with students, veterans and some social service users. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the city decided to make fares free for everyone, at least temporarily. For now this will be extended until the end of 2022.

Interestingly, this decision meant that Kansas City did not see anywhere near the decline in public transit ridership that most major cities did as a result of the pandemic. 

According to Kansas City Area Transportation Authority president and chief executive officer Robbie Makinen “While everybody else’s ridership went down during COVID to about 20%, ours never dipped below 60%, and we’re back up to 80% now".

As I have noted before, the struggle for free transit and against car culture is critically important in this era where the fight against climate change and inequality are coming so sharply into focus.

While many -- understandably given the seriousness of the climate emergency -- primarily view the need for free fares through an environmental lens, they can also play a critical role in promoting social inclusion and working to end the marginalization of urban communities and neighbourhoods. 

As I have argued before, free transit is an obvious way to incorporate neighbourhoods with high poverty rates or population densities that are detached from the overall economic and cultural life of the city into the fabric of city life as a whole.

Museums, art galleries, cultural or political events, parks and waterfronts and so many other essential parts of the urban experience would be there to visit at no cost in fares. 

Beyond opening up a city to neighbourhoods excluded from full participation in it, the reverse is also true. It would open up neighbourhoods that few visit to new possibilities to host cultural or artistic events and to become destinations. This can have profound potential economic and social benefits.

Christopher Ramirez of the Albuquerque community group Together 4 Brothers that had advocated for the free transit policy notes this when he says "Zero fares isn't about getting people on buses, it's about where the buses take people. It's about access to education, it's about access to employment, access to recreation."

Further:

Baruch Compost is the program coordinator for the organization. He said coming from a low-income household, growing up without a car and also struggling to afford the bus made it difficult to go to school and even get a job.
"One of the questions that is often asked in interviews is, 'do you have reliable transportation?'" Compost said. "Paying for the bus might not seem like much for some folks, but it really does add up."
Community partners also benefit from zero fares, including the mayor's Climate Action Task Force.
"They recognize that zero fares would go a long way to impact air pollution and climate justice here in the City of Albuquerque," Ramirez said. "If we can get more people out of their cars and into buses, we know that's gonna have another positive impact on our city."
Ramirez said even if you don't ride the bus, you probably know or even rely on someone who does.
"This is an important part of the story. You may not benefit from zero fares, maybe you have a car, you don't have a bus route near your house, but guess what, the person that works at your grocery store, the person that works at the day care, the person that works at your favorite fast-food restaurant where you get your favorite breakfast burrito, they're all gonna benefit," Ramirez said.

What was once seen as an utopian, marginal and fringe idea is increasingly being embraced by mainstream politicians in communities across North America and around the world. The left needs to make fare free public transit a central part of its struggle against climate change and inequality and for social inclusion and economic justice.

A growing movement demands free, expanded public transit in Canada

2021-08-16T10:07:00.000+12:00

Grassroots organizers in several cities are laying out the social, environmental and economic benefits of making public transit accessible to everyone

by Samphe BruléBreachmedia.ca - Features Aug 10 2021

Laura Shantz’s youngest child turns six next year, the age cutoff for free bus and train rides in Ottawa. This means a roundtrip ride on Ottawa’s transit system will cost the mother and her two children $15. During a city council Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting last month, Shantz shared her concerns over Ottawa’s proposed 2.5% transit fare increase.

“People are saying, I want free transit, I want this, I want that,” Mayor Jim Watson said later in the meeting, responding to Shantz’s and others’ concerns. “Well I’m sorry but someone has to pay for it.”

A growing movement of activists in cities across Canada agrees that someone should indeed pay for it, but not the poorest. While acknowledging the costs of building transit infrastructure, they argue it must not fall on marginalized members of society, who often rely on public transit to access work and essential services. The Free Public Transit movement believes fares can be eliminated entirely and funded by progressive taxation measures that shift the burden to corporations and the most wealthy.

They’re already clocking small victories. Earlier this year the City of Victoria introduced a free transit pass for youth 18 and under. The City of Halifax made free transit passes available to anyone receiving income assistance. And in March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, cities across Canada temporarily abolished transit fares for essential workers.

Free public transit is often framed as an expensive, impractical proposition. But advocates say dependency on personal vehicles is even more expensive and impractical. Expanded, efficient, and free public transit could radically reduce the need for cars. Relying on a car to engage with city life commonly costs upwards of $10,000 a year. Any tax increase associated with free public transit would pale in comparison.

Free Transit Ottawa campaign launch in January 2020.

Ottawa: Building an inclusive community

On top of their financial burden, single-occupancy vehicles create more congested cities. When people ride one or two at a time, rather than 30 at a time in a bus or train, cities become less accessible for everyone, as car traffic trickles down to affect transit routes.

Josh McEvoy, an organizer with Free Transit Ottawa (FTO), views better transit design as a critical step towards a more equitable city. “Whether to work, engage in political activity, attend events, or participate in leisure activities, mobility is key,” he says. “But without a robust, accessible, and affordable (ideally free) transit system, partaking in those things and the cultural life of the city becomes dependent on car ownership.”

FTO believes public transportation should be a free service, like a library. Before the pandemic, the group canvassed at transit stations and encouraged commuters to sign petitions. Organizers invited community members to imagine a city where neighborhoods are connected by a web of transit lines.

Recently, they began seeking out like-minded organizations and service providers in the city to help propel the movement forward. Together with the Somerset West Community Health Centre, the groups are calling on the City of Ottawa to make transit free for social assistance recipients.

The work draws on the health centre’s recent Building Community Together report, which features consultations with over 500 residents living in Ottawa’s West Centretown and advocates for affordable, reliable transit as “a necessary component of an inclusive community.”

This model of advocacy, bridging community consultation with urban development, has also been adopted by organizers in Toronto.

TTCriders launch a report calling for lower fares and service improvements.

Toronto: Fare enforcement a barrier to dignity and access

In June 2021, TTCriders, a transit advocacy organization, released its report, Pandemic Recovery Fare Policies for a Thriving Transit System. Facilitating focus groups known as “transit story circles,” organizers held meetings in English, Tamil, Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, and Mandarin, soliciting perspectives on transit accessibility and potential changes to transit design.

Jasmine Mohamed, who serves on the TTCriders board, emphasizes the importance of bolstering transit users’ facilitation and organizing skills: “TTCriders has been pressing hard to ensure the member base is organizing and building the political power of transit users so they can influence [Toronto Transit Commission] decisions.”

On September 15, TTCriders will deliver to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) a list of recommendations based on their report in an attempt to influence the TTC’s 5-Year Fare Policy.

Toronto transit riders reported unaffordable fares and infrequent, crowded buses as their top concerns. Many described racist fare enforcement as another barrier to access. Less than one percent of Toronto residents are Indigenous, but they make up three percent of TTC enforcement incidents. Black people are 2.2 times more likely to be stopped by TTC enforcement officers than the general population.

Free transit, organizers argue, would eliminate the need for fare evasion officers and make public transit safer for people of colour, specifically Black and Indigenous passengers.

Beyond reducing unnecessary police interventions, some see free and expanded transit as part of an avenue towards greater economic equity and climate justice.

Free Transit Edmonton sees free and expanded transit at the core of a Green New Deal.

Edmonton: Framing free transit as climate justice

In Alberta, Climate Justice Edmonton presented Edmonton City Council with a petition—signed by 1800 community members—demanding the city freeze its proposed 25-cent fare increase. The Free Transit Edmonton campaign’s efforts were successful. In April, City Council voted 12-to-1 to freeze the fare increase.

Free Transit Edmonton promotes climate justice on a municipal level, advocating for infrastructure that puts people, rather than cars, first. Organizer Sol Bobier describes this shift in urban planning: “If you build an expansion to the Anthony Henday, the ring road in Edmonton, you’re going to have an increase in cars; you’re not going to have an increase in public transit users, cyclists, and pedestrians.”

Climate Justice Edmonton started its free transit campaign to promote a just transition away from fossil fuels and towards greener modes of transportation. It envisions a city that encourages public transit and swaps car-centric infrastructure, like parking lots and freeways, for pedestrian bays, paved bike lanes, and easy-to-access bus terminals.

“People need to go to work, to important doctor’s appointments, and there’s some things you just can’t be late to. You need a form of transportation that’s going to get you there,” says Bobier.

“By making transit reliable, good, free, we’re lowering the barriers to using it and being able to rely on it in a way that doesn’t leave you stranded in the worst time possible.”

A growing global movement

Free public transit is not a new idea — cities around the world have fostered healthier, greener and more accessible communities by implementing fare-free transportation. In 2013, Tallinn, Estonia made public transportation free. Luxembourg also offers free public transportation for all residents, in hopes the country can mitigate traffic congestion and create less polluted urban centers.

Last January, Washington’s state capital, Olympia, introduced a zero-fare demonstration project. Along with eliminating fares, Olympia’s Intercity Transit increased the bus fleet by 51 percent and hired 130 new transit workers. In its first month of operations, weekend ridership increased 50 percent compared to the previous year, while weekday ridership rose by 15 percent. This pilot project will span five years, giving the city a chance to “measure the impacts of moving to zero-fare.” More study is needed to evaluate the economic impacts of free transit, but increased ridership points to positive outcomes for local businesses.

The blueprint for free public transit exists, and the environmental, social, and economic benefits are clear. A growing movement says it’s time for Canada to hop on board.