Key meeting being held on free transport
A CAMPAIGN for better and more accessible public transport in Glasgow is calling for free travel in and around the city. Free Our City is hosting a public hearing tonight for politicians to listen to what passengers think of public transport in Glasgow and their vision of what it should be.
Community groups, organisations and community councils will share their thoughts about the problems they encounter regularly with Glasgow’s public transport.
The campaign group wants free public transport for everyone in the Greater Glasgow Area.
The idea might be radical and unique in Scotland and the UK – but free public transport has been used in other cities in Europe and the US.
Tallin in Estonia was the first capital city in the world to introduce free bus travel for all in 2013.
It was done to reduce congestion on the roads and to help people on low incomes.
Everyone who was a resident of the city paid €2 for a green card which allowed them free travel on the city’s buses.
The plan worked by the scheme helping to attract more people to live in the city and was paid for through the extra local tax it generated from new residents.
Free public transport is also being delivered in Luxembourg, where it was introduced as a social measure to benefit low-paid workers. The Government there said that transport was already heavily subsidised and fares only accounted for around 10% of revenue.
In Germany, there have been trials in five cities, including the former West German capital Bonn.
In Kansas City, Missouri, in the US, with half a million residents – a similar size to Glasgow – free bus travel was brought in last year at a cost of around $9 million a year.
Free Our City wants such a transport programme in Glasgow.
The meeting will be attended by representatives of SNP, Labour and the Greens who will be asked for their plans on public transport.
Jennifer McCarey, an organiser with Free Our City, said: “This event is about ordinary people in and around Glasgow having a voice and a platform to talk about their transport needs.
Politicians will be there to listen, to hear people’s experiences of public transport.
“Next Thursday, it’s your chance to tell decision makers what you want from public transport in Glasgow. Passengers have been left out of decisions about transport for too long. It’s time we spoke up.
“The Free Our City campaign is about imagining how our city could be open to everyone. That means quality public transport, free to everyone, and with decisions led by the interests of passengers not profit. In the run up to the Parliament elections in May and next year’s local elections, we’ll be making sure free buses are on the agenda.”