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Free Public Transport is Launched Across Estonia

posted by martyb on Thursday May 24 2018, @08:57AM   
from the the-price-is-right dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

http://www.euronews.com/2018/05/21/free-public-transport-across-estonia

Estonia is set to implement free transport for its residents across much of the country as of July 1. The free fare zone will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/05/estonia-will-roll-out-free-public-transit-nationwide/560648/

Estonia is already a world leader in free public transit: In 2013, all public transit in its capital, Tallinn, became free to local residents (but not tourists or other visitors, even those from other parts of the country). The new national free-ride scheme will extend this model even further, making all state-run bus travel in rural municipalities free and extending cost-free transit out from the capital into other regions.

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Original Submission

• Re:Not free Re:Not free (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday May 25 2018, @09:17AM (1 child)

  by FatPhil (863) <reversethis-{if.fdsa} {ta} {tnelyos-cp}> on Friday May 25 2018, @09:17AM (#683937) Homepage

  I was paying for it already out of my taxes, public transport has always been highly subsidised. Now more of my taxes are being directed towards the town I live in, in particular the facilities I most appreciate (I have little direct use for most of the facilities that I pay for, to be honest, but I appreciate that the town as a whole needs them - I need shopkeepers, shops which are all walking distance for me, to be able to drive to work, and I like the fact that their education system permits them to perform transactions efficiently with someone utterly inept at their mother tongue).

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• Re:Not free (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @06:18AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @06:18AM (#686622)

  Actually your argument should be since you were already paying for it, them making it free could mean you pay less! Because it costs money to charge for stuff and make sure it's paid for. But that's only if they made it completely free for everyone and didn't bother tracking transactions, which doesn't seem to be the case since they're charging tourists.

  Not bothering to charge and track means your taxes don't have to pay for stuff like turnstiles, payment kiosks, payment systems and people to handle the zillions of related issues (including refunds and handling of cash).

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