Premises and Limitations of Free Public Transport Implementation

Abstract

For many years issues of the free provision of transport services, including urban public transport, were outside the main trends of transport economics considerations. However, nowadays, the discussion is ongoing related to usefulness and limitations of the free urban public transport implementation. Protection of the city environment, reduction of personal cars traffic, and increased accessibility and mobility in cities are given as premises for such solution introduction. However, assessments of introduced solutions may not necessarily confirm the assumptions made. Financial problems and those in provision of services - characteristic of goods and services provided for free - add to that. The paper has undertaken the issue related to premises and limitations related to introduction of the fare free urban public transport in regard to the pursuit of effectiveness in the public management.

Sustainability of the Free Public Transport Model in the Republic of Croatia

“…While the benefits of free public transport, such as increased ridership and environmental benefits are evident, the implementation of such programs is not without challenges. The debate on the effectiveness and limitations of free urban public transport continues (Dydkowski and Gnap, 2019). Fadyushin and Zakharov (2022) emphasize that the transition to free public transport may only result in a modest increase in public transport usage, accompanied by a reduction in individual trips by mode of transport.…”

Electrification of Public Transport Bus Fleet: Identification of Business and Financing Models

“…The setting of prices below the cost of selected services rendering, or ensuring the free access to a part of services, causes that it becomes necessary to ensure such solutions during their provision, which will feature hallmarks of effective. The services, to which access is free, can be rendered by the service provider on a lower level of quality -because the user receives them for free, so (s)he should not make complaints in the field of quality, on the other hand the users can notify demand on the level much higher than their needs and the motive can originate only from the fact that anyhow they are free [5,29].…”

Optimizing the Choice of Means of Transport using Operational Research

“…The demand for travel is a product of individual human needs, for which each person decides to travel based on several factors. These individual decisions are complex and sometimes extremely difficult to define, as they involve many decisions about the destination, frequency and duration of the trip, the time of day the trip takes place, the destination and the chosen method of travel [13]. Moreover, these choices must be seen in the context of simultaneous choices, regarding car ownership, housing location, travel reason and endof-journey activities [14].…”