Free public transport also stimulates the mobility of all income groups. People go out more often for entertainment, to restaurants, bars and cinemas. They consume local goods and services and are likely to spend more money, more often. In the end this makes local businesses thrive.
Before introducing free public transport, the city center was crammed with cars. This situation has improved — also because they raised parking fees. People leave cars in a park-and-ride and check in to public transport on the same day, they use public transport for free, but are not charged parking fees. People didn’t complain about high parking fees once they were offered them a good alternative.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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