UK Tories give themselves free public transport

Manchester Evening News: "All delegates at the Conservative party conference in Manchester will get free tram, train and bus travel throughout the region.

They will be allowed to travel for free on public transport for the duration of next week’s conference – despite most being based in hotels close to the Manchester Central venue.

The deal has been struck between transport bosses at ‘System One’ – the company which runs Greater Manchester’s travel card system – and Conservative party bosses."

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Riga mayor: new fare policy to be first step towards free public transportation

The Baltic Course: "Mayor Nils Usakovs (Harmony Center), ahead of today's press conference, reveals the changes up ahead for Riga's public transportation system in his "Facebook" account, cites LETA."

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Local Trains Could be Added to Tallinn's Free Public Transport System

ERR: "Tallinn City Council is set to debate a bill that would lead to the city signing an agreement with state-owned rail passenger service operator Elektriraudtee to wave ticket fees for Tallinn residents on train lines in the city."

Call for car parking fees at out-of-town shopping centres

The Irish Times: "A charge of 50 cent an hour for currently free car parking at out-of-town shopping centres could raise more than €16 million a year, with the revenue used to support town centres and local public transport services, according to An Taisce."

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Save time and trouble, make #publictransit free

FRANCE 24: "According to the GART association, which works to develop public transport in France, ticket sales cover only 25 percent of operating costs.

As a result, some 20 French cities have simply opted to make transport free... thus eradicating the cost of ticket checkers.

Since the large southern city of Aubagne did so four years ago, ridership on public transport has grown by 170 percent while car traffic has dropped 10 percent.

"Public transport should be free like libraries, swimming pools, health, education and everything that is built using taxpayer money," said philosopher Michel Onfray.

The idea has some fervent supporters. Playwright Jean-Louis Sagot-Duvauroux wrote online that free transport "abolishes fraud and checks"."

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Ban cars from town centres to save our shops, says transport minister

Telegraph: "Speaking at a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat conference, Mr Baker said: “The worst thing you can do is give free rein to the car. The idea of giving free rein to the car and excluding or marginalising pedestrians does not work economically, does not work environmentally and is a failed policy of the 1970s.
“I was in southern Germany for a holiday a couple of years ago. The town I was in had no cars in the city centre at all. The place was heaving with people spending money. Every single shop was occupied.
“There is a case for limiting the car in the city centre. But it has to be combined with sensible investment in public transport, and sensible investment in the public space to encourage cycling and walking.”"

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Politicians promise free public transport in Viljandi, Estonia

ERR: "“The state pays 1.4 million euros annually for public transport in Viljandi County, with the rest made up by municipalities and the 800,000-euro revenue from ticket sales. A local government's budget is there to solve the problems of its residents, and we can decide whether we construct another sports hall in a forest or use the funds for public transport,” said IRL candidate Vello Lips."

Give the young free bus passes, says Asda chief

Yorkshire Post: "ASDA’s chief executive Andy Clarke is calling for free bus passes for 16 to 24-year-olds to help them travel to job interviews and enable them to commute once they are in work.

Mr Clarke said this is a better option than pushing up wages which could stifle job creation.

Tomorrow the Leeds-based supermarket will publish a new study looking at the impact the financial crisis has had on household incomes over the last five years and the impact it is likely to have over the next five years.

In reaction to the findings, Mr Clarke is calling for public transport subsidies for young people."

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Tallinn summer conference on #freetransit. Reports from Tallinn, Hasselt, Chengdu, Żory, and Ząbki

A visit to “Summer School – The Capital of Free Public Transport” in Tallinn | Free public transport: "Tallinn were represented by mayor Edgar Savisaar who told the audience that since they removed the fares in the public transport they have seen a 14 percent decrease in car traffic as well as a 15 percent increase in public transport users. One of the reasons that Tallinn implemented a fare-free system was that they already subsidized the public transport by 70 percent and felt that it was hard to motivate why such a hefty amount of public funding should be spent on an operation that was to expensive for some to use. Instead they reasoned that if the public transport is something that is worthy of such a large public funding, should not everybody also have the right to use it?"

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Capitalist destruction in UK running out of control

The Independent: "The future of large swathes of Britain's ancient woodland is hanging in the balance, as the government nears a landmark ruling on whether to turn a tree-surrounded road to Pembury in Kent into a dual carriageway."