Denmark, Aarhus experiments with making light rail and bus free (but only if you own a car)
Denmark, Aarhus experiments with making light rail and bus free (but only if you own a car)
From autumn 2025, drivers in Aarhus can travel for free by light rail and bus during rush hour if they park at the Park and Ride facility at Klokhøjen.
This is stated in a press release by Midttrafik, which together with Aarhus Municipality is behind the pilot trial.
The trial will test whether free travel by light rail can motivate more drivers to leave their cars and continue their journey by public transport, with the aim of reducing congestion and car traffic in the city centre.
Drivers can collect a free ticket via the Rejsebillet app at Klokhøjen. The trial will run until the end of 2026.
One step forward, one step backwards. Somehow, Denmark manages to make public transportation benefit only the people who need it the least.
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I disagree on this: "One step forward, one step backwards. Somehow, Denmark manages to make public transportation benefit only the people who need it the least."
I'm not saying it does benefit the people who need it the most, but this artificially boost demand for public transport which makes more funding more responsible. Also because it artificially lowers demand for roads it makes it easier to 'sell' not investing in roads.
What is a bad thing about this though, is that it might make it more appealing for people who use public transport to own cars.
That's a shallow take. Nobody is gonna buy a car to save 5 dollars on public transport. This is an experiment to collect data so somebody can lobby for more investment in public transportation; something we have already data on and know works. It's kind of pointless, it's just a free cookie if you own a car.
During rush hour, for a lot of people that means 2 tickets a day, four times a week. Those savings on their own might not convince someone to buy a car but there will be people who have no car now consider that an additional benefit. I was not saying this is the best way to spend your money as a government, i was also not saying that this will mean a lot of cars will be bought because of this.
Will the cost of insurance and tax not outweigh the cost of a (monthly) ticket? And (especially older) cars must pass EU controls regularly for them to be road legal.
Considering this is a test to see if car users (they must park in a P&R) would use PT if it were free, it might just be a lead up for proposing it to be free for all.
To add, while the car users are not the ones that need this the most, a reduction in cars (even at the cost of ticket sales) could have positive effects for inhabitants of Aarhus on health and maybe even economic (some research shows that areas with fewer cars see local business thrive).
Will the cost of insurance and tax not outweigh the cost of a (monthly) ticket? And (especially older) cars must pass EU controls regularly for them to be road legal.
I have no clue on prices of tickets, taxes or insurance in Denmark. My point mainly being less cars on the road is better for everyone.