Advantages and disadvantages of free public transport services, Study notes of Tourism

Download Advantages and disadvantages of free public transport services and more Study notes Tourism in PDF only on Docsity! by Torsten Belter, Maike von Harten, Sandra Sorof (TU Dresden) Research paper about the Advantages and disadvantages of free public transport services Research paper: Free public transport services Table of contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3 Aspects for public transport users ..................................................................................... 3 Advantages for public transport users ................................................................................... 3 Disadvantages for public transport users .............................................................................. 3 Aspects for the Community ............................................................................................... 4 Advantages for the community .............................................................................................. 4 Disadvantages for community ............................................................................................... 5 Aspects for the local authority .......................................................................................... 6 Advantages for the local authority ......................................................................................... 6 Disadvantages for the local authority .................................................................................... 7 Aspects for the public transport operator .......................................................................... 8 Advantages for the public transport operator ....................................................................... 8 Disadvantages for the public transport operator .................................................................. 8 Good practice example - Hasselt ....................................................................................... 9 Some interesting figures from Hasselt: ................................................................................ 11 Further examples ................................................................................................................. 11 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 12 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 13 Sources concerning the research on fare free public transport .......................................... 13 Sources concerning the research on the example in Hasselt .............................................. 14 Research paper: Free public transport services 5 to compact fluorescent light bulbs and replacing older appliances with higher efficiency models, combined. A national climate change strategy that doesn’t embrace public transportation has simply missed the bus.” 5 Considering that we probably already passed “Peak Oil” (this describes a peak where the oil production cannot be raised any more, but steadily decreases 6 Fare free PT can lead to a net positive progress of safety because a reduction in car usage will cut the number of traffic accidents (and their (external) costs for individuals and society). ), fare free PT could support in reducing the overall consumption of oil and gasoline. 7 The demand for taxis is higher because they complement the public transport supply in areas and times where no bus routes are available (e.g. in remote suburban areas) and people might be willing to take a cab even for shorter distances (this is economically efficient, because it raises the GDP). Disadvantages for community People (especially those who remain car drivers) could judge that system unfair, as everyone pays through taxes for fare free PT without eventually using it. But, there is infrastructure financed by taxes that are used only by car traffic (e.g. motorways) and exclude other users. Apparently some people might think, if anything does not cost anything, it is not valuable. At the moment PT is not totally barrier-free which is unsocial as mobility impaired people (disabled, older people or those with a buggy) could not use the option, but finance the system. Free public transport might create a negative modal shift from walking and cycling (Many surveys of existing systems (e.g. Templin/Germany) reveal that most additional PT users are previous cyclists and pedestrians.) and car sharing (depending on the value of modal-split in the initial situation).This might lead to…  a negative influence on the public health in consequence of less exercise.  an increase of CO2 emissions (apparently these emissions are covered by the savings of motorised traffic). Free public transport may encourage people to travel more (the only cost would be their time) which – in case of additional PT offers - might increase individuals’ and total level of emissions (induced traffic). Examples are…  fare free buses or trams which may encourage the inhabitants of the suburbs to travel a longer distance for shopping in the big city centre instead of using their local suburban centres,  influence on the choice of place of residence, which would provoke travelling longer distances and finally 5 [Williams & Miller 2007] 6 [Terry Macalister 2009] 7 [DVS 2007 - 2011] Research paper: Free public transport services 6  negative influence on the balanced spatial structure which leads to induced traffic. The free capacity on the streets makes car driving again more attractive and could induce to additional car rides (experiments in Holland showed such results). This can and should be prevented by installing measures to permanently reduce the capacity of road infrastructure. If this is not the case at the end there will be no major modal shift. Model calculations (of Vorarlberg, Austria) show that removing the fares of public transport without accompanying measures reduce the modal share of motorised traffic only by 0.4% - 2.1%. This refers to the importance of accompanying measures (push and pull measures).8 If PT becomes fare free on the national level or at least in many bigger cities and the car use decreases substantially, the lower demand of motorised private transport may reduce the number of jobs in the automotive sector. Aspects for the local authority Advantages for the local authority Less motorised traffic makes the city more attractive and increases the quality of life in cities which might lead to…  advantages like higher economic activity (e.g. through tourism). In small towns fare free PT is not much more expensive than conventional PT. The revenue of the ticket sale of small cities does not cover the costs which guarantee a good public transport system. (In Templin (Germany) only ~14% of the total costs of the public transport could be covered by the ticket revenue. The remaining part has to be financed by subvention.)9 According to a study from the VCD (Verkehrsclub Deutschland) nowadays municipalities do spend much more money for the provision of street infrastructure than for PT, meaning that every PT user also subsidises car users. In figures, German cities pay 53-85% of the total cost for motorized traffic which corresponds to 80-90% of the municipal budget. 10 The cost of car traffic is related to 100-150€ per person and year (depending on the commune). An example: The total expenses for PT in Graz (Austria) are half of the expenses for road traffic. That means even in cities with an exemplary sustainable transport concept like in Graz (Austria) subventions of 169€ per person and year are spend for motorised traffic but only 84€ for PT. 11  ICLEI offers a calculation program for cities to recover the hidden costs of car traffic http://www.iclei-europe.org/home/ The costs for maintenance for streets decline (if the car traffic volume drops dramatically). 8 [Steger-Vonmetz, Dujmovits & Hagen 2008] 9 [Maudet 2010] 10 [Erdmenger & Führ 2005] 11 Ibid. Research paper: Free public transport services 7 If investing in infrastructure projects like a city tunnel, it is not reversible – in contrast it is possible to abolish free PT (though very unpopular), which shows that such a measure holds a lower economic risk for the local authority. Implementing free PT could positively affect the image for the tourism industry (this can be used to attract tourist and ameliorate their mobility). Public transport empowers the economy: Public transport providers are important employers for many cities. They provide green jobs, which cannot be delocalised, as it happens with jobs in industrial plants. Investments for public transport create 25% more jobs than an equivalent investment for road or highway construction. 1.2 million jobs are created by public transport providers in Europe and each one is even linked to 4 jobs in other sectors of the economy. As every Euro earned with public transport is connected to additional 4 € value creation in the whole economy, public transport represents 1-1.2% of the EU GDP. 12 Disadvantages for the local authority A prognosis shows a tendency to decreased future macroeconomic profits of PT services. This decline is mainly because in rural areas there are less people living and using PT (Figure 1).13 However there are still people who depend on public transport services. That means a minimum service standard has to be maintained. Figure 1: Index of the macroeconomic profit (consumptive financial requirements of PT = 10014 ) Especially in bigger cities a huge amount of money earned through ticket sales (in Berlin currently about 666 Mio € per year) would have to be replaced by the local authority and furthermore the cost recovery in big cities is usually higher (in Hamburg about 85% of the 12 [UITP 2012] 13 [Geißler und Jetzki 2010] 14 Ibid. Research paper: Free public transport services 10 The number of bus lines rose by the time from two to 50, the bus frequency was raised (5 to max. 30 min.) and the bus system was improved every year.24 Figure 2: Road network with bus grid in 1987 Figure 3: Accessibility of PT stops after implementation25 After the implementation of the new mobility plan, many positive effects can be noticed. However it should be kept in mind that this was achieved by both the elimination of fares as well as the implementation of bus priority measures such as separated bus lanes (pull 24 [Gramm & Pesch 2009; p. 13, 14] 25 [Gramm & Pesch 2009; p. 13,14] Research paper: Free public transport services 11 measures) and push measures like cutting the number of parking spaces and increase parking fares. Some interesting figures from Hasselt: In November 1997, 16 per cent of all bus riders previously drove a car.26 More than 40 per cent of the people visiting hospitals switched from a car to the bus. 27 More than 32 per cent of the people "going to market" switched from using cars to buses. 28 Up to 30% more people come into the city and upgrade the sales. 33% of the bus users did not travel at all before. The remaining two-thirds of the bus users who have already come a way, can be divided as follows: 29  54,3% used the bus even before  22,8% travelled the way by car before  18,4% rode by bike before  13,9% were pedestrians before the introduction of the free PT Talking about the costs of the new Mobility plan, it should be mentioned that the revenue from the ticket sales had just covered 9 % of the total costs for the public transport. However, after the implementation the city spends even less money (1.26% of annual municipal budget)30 on transportation with the new Mobility plan, despite the increased cost for pedestrian, cycling, and PT infrastructure and services. So the city of Hasselt even saves money with this innovative mobility plan! But the measure is just partly financed through the municipal budget (1.8Mio US-$ in 2006, covering 26% of the costs) and the rest contributes the Flemish national government.31 Further examples 32 Further examples of fare free public transport services are the city of Templin (Germany), the free transit zone in Perth (Australia), Aubagne near Marseilles ( France), Island Transit on Whidbey Island (Washington) or the 7th Avenue free fare zone in Calgary (Canada). 33 And there are free rides in Zagreb (Croatia) (usage of public transport 2 stops from main square are free of charge since 2009 and several months later, two additional stops were also announced as free of charge, on the edge of area, there are several public garages, so car drivers can park their cars).34 26 [Olson 2007a] Actually there are numerous examples of systems which became fare free at some point or were free right from the start. There can be found exemplary fare free systems of public transport all over the world 27 [Olson 2007a] 28 [Olson 2007a] 29 [Kalbow 2001] 30 [Gramm & Pesch 2009; p. 17] 31 [Olson 2007a] 32 [http://freepublictransit.org/Success_Stories.php] 33 [Sidawy 2010] 34 [EST goes EAST Clearing House] Research paper: Free public transport services 12 Conclusion Removing fare boxes is not enough, but the measure has to be planned well in advance while keeping the whole system in mind. Within this sustainable mobility policy, there are two traffic policies: a Large Traffic Policy and a Small Traffic Policy. The Large Traffic Policy includes the public transport policy (fare-free transit with appropriate service levels), a Mobility Plan (dissemination of policy, car-free days, shop by bike and so on), Cycle Policy Plan, Parking Policy Plan, a possible programme of transitory fares, Green Boulevard and an Outer Ring Road Plan for example. The Small Traffic Policy offers quicker solutions to local residents like "no parking" signs, speed humps (sleeping policemen that prohibit speeding), raised crosswalks, street narrowing’s (corner and mid-block bulges), and many others. By following these push (degradation of the conditions for car drivers) and pull principals (offering an incentive with the fare free public transport), the measure will be more effective and successful! Making transit free of charge as an incentive to PT, but will not allow in itself huge numbers of people to abandon their cars. In many cases, more public transit vehicles, running more frequently are required, too. Additionally, buses and shelters have to be attractive. The decade-old experience in Hasselt has shown that investing in the service beforehand, not only makes the transition smoother, it will get people on the bus and out of their cars.