Free Public Transit: Zagreb, Croatia

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Zagreb, Croatia - Free Public Transport

Free public transport in Zagreb as city bosses look to cut car numbers
Croatian Times

City bosses in Zagreb have introduced free public transport in a bid to cut car numbers in the capital.

Public city transport in the wider Zagreb downtown area became free of charge as of today (Tue) and Zagreb Municipal Transit System (ZET) head Ivan Tolic said: "This is designed to reduce car traffic in the centre and encourage residents to park their cars in public garages outside the centre."

Tolic said the city’s finances would not be hurt by the new measure.

Free is Cheaper

How is free transit cheaper? Don't you have to make up for lost fare revenue? The answer is that your city will save so much money in other areas, and quality of life will improve so much that you will get back much more than the lost fares. Some examples are listed below. If you want to see specific numbers, see our spreadsheet here.

Increased return on investment. Public transit involves large fixed costs. When fares are gone, there are more riders per vehicle, getting more value from the investment.
Reduced parking costs. With free transit, fewer people will park downtown. City parking authorities can cost $180 million a year, paid by fines, which are just a tax on customers and delivery services.

Reduced traffic congestion. Studies have shown that the time lost in traffic costs urban economies hundreds of millions of dollars.
Less money exported for gasoline. A medium sized city can export 1 million dollars a day in gasoline money for cars. Free buses will reduce this considerably.
Better quality of life, priceless. In Hasselt, Belgium, when fares were removed, people in hospital started receiving more visitors.