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Luxembourg Provides Free Public Transportation
관리자 2020-05-04 오후 4:50:15 419


Luxembourg Provides Free Public Transportation



Luxembourg became the first nation to provide free public transportation to its citizens. On March 1, the country celebrated the occasion with concerts at four of its train stations and a host of other events. The ambitious new policy aims to tackle Luxembourg’s two persistent problems: traffic and pollution.

Although it is one of Europe’s smallest nations, Luxembourg has some of the worst traffic anywhere in the European Union. Its high salaries and ample job opportunities in sectors like banking and finance are great for attracting talent from neighboring E.U. countries.

However, an unreliable rail and bus system means that most of these workers commute by car. Every day, a whopping 214,000 of the country’s 614,000 inhabitants cross over from neighboring France, Germany, and Belgium. For this reason, Luxembourg has one of the highest car-to-person ratios in Europe.

To get the cars off the road, the country decided to make its public transport free for residents and visitors alike. It also invested billions of euros on upgrading its rail and bus networks and is currently adding more park-to-ride stations at the border. According to government research, these changes are expected to reduce commuting by car from 73 percent to 65 percent by 2025.

Yet while Luxembourg’s public transportation system looks free on the surface, there is still a cost. The project requires an extra 41 million euros to make up for lost ticket fares, which will be needed to operate the service. Taxpayers are expected to shoulder this burden.

Critics argue that free public transportation is an unnecessary measure from the Luxembourg government. They point to the fact that many workers already travel free of charge, while many others enjoy cheap gas prices.

The concept of free public transportation has already seen success in cities like Tallinn in Estonia and Dunkirk in France. As the world’s first country to introduce such a measure nationwide, Luxembourg is betting big on duplicating the success of these cities.
Questions:
1. Specify the ambitious policy recently implemented in Luxembourg. What is its objective?
2. Despite the country’s size, how come it has the worst traffic condition in the EU? Point out the reason it has one of the highest car-to-person ratios in Europe.
3. Mention the changes that could effectively reduce commuting by car in the country.
4. What are taxpayers expected to shoulder? Despite the policy’s success in other places, why do some believe it’s unnecessary?
5. Should public transport in Korea be free for citizens too? Why or why not?
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