Several elected officials from the left including the mayor PS of Paris Anne Hidalgo and his deputy Audrey Pulvar, candidate of the PS for regional in Île-de-France, call for the "
revolution of free public transport
", in a column published in the
Sunday Newspaper
.
Read also: Is free public transport possible?
"
Free transport is already a reality for hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, in Aubagne, Calais, Dunkirk, Niort, Libourne, Castres, Gap, Châteauroux and around thirty other territories throughout France
", while Luxembourg neighbor became in early 2020 the first country to offer free throughout its territory, measure Anne Hidalgo, Audrey Pulvar, the mayors of Montpellier Michaël Delafosse (PS) and Dunkirk, Patrice Vergriete (various left), or the chairman of the council department of Seine-Saint-Denis, Stéphane Troussel (PS).
"
Each time, free access is an immediate popular success, a social conquest that nobody imagines to question anymore
", estimate these elected leftists, listing the supposed benefits: increased purchasing power, "
faster and smoother journeys.
"Or even, via the reduction in automobile traffic that it is supposed to generate,"
less road accidents, less air pollution, less traffic jams on the roads, less delivery delays
".
Strasbourg, Paris, Montpellier, Nantes
In February, the metropolis of Strasbourg announced free public transport for those under 18 from September, and the Occitanie region announced the experimental launch of an offer allowing young adults to take the train at least 30 times. per month to travel for free.
In Paris, free public transport for those under 18 was introduced at the start of the 2020 school year on reimbursement of transport subscriptions.
In Nantes, public transport will be definitely free on weekends from April 24, thus imitating Montpellier where the same measure has been in force since September.
Audrey Pulvar has made progressive free public transport the flagship measure of her program to delight Île-de-France with Valérie Pécresse (Libres!), Who is opposed to it.
