Public transportation might not seem so appealing to everyone. After all, you have to follow schedules and plan your trip ahead, elbow and get elbowed by multiple people during rush hour (accidentally, of course), and you can never choose who you are traveling with. But all the struggle is really kinda worth it when you think about the benefits like less crowded roads, lower CO2 emission, and so on. Knowing this, many countries contemplate making public transportation free and while some countries even made some effort by making certain means of public transport free for certain groups of people (for example, students and youth under 18), Luxembourg is the first country to make all public transportation absolutely free.

More info: Mobilite Gratuite Au Luxembourg

Luxembourg has become the first country in the world to offer free public transportation

François Bausch, the minister of mobility and public works, is convinced that “The range, punctuality and quality of the services on offer are crucial to motivating people to change their habits and switch from private cars to public transport.”

The country’s government introduced it as an attempt to reduce congestion from car traffic

A spokesperson for the Luxembourg government said: “As 2020 is a leap year and as the concerts and celebrations are happening tomorrow, it has been decided to make public transport free as from tomorrow, in order to allow everybody to join the public events free of charge.”

Luxembourg is the first country ever to make all trains, trams, and buses completely free

Surely enough, not everyone is convinced about this “leap of faith”. Claude Moyen, a teacher who travels by train to his school in the town of Diekirch every day, told The Independent he feared the quality of journeys might suffer. I’m not sure if making public transport free here in Luxembourg will take more people out of their cars,” he said.

They are also planning a systematic expansion of capacity in the national rail network and doubling the current number of P+R parking spaces

François Bausch, the minister of mobility and public works, describes the move as: “The social icing on the cake of the global strategy for a multimodal revolution”

Thus, all public transport has become free of charge since the 3rd of March, 2020

Part of the cost will be covered by eliminating the tax break for commuters which will also encourage people to shift away from the use of private cars in Luxembourg

While most people were happy about the news, some remain skeptical