The free public transport introduced in Luxembourg on March 1st has brought the second smallest country in the EU far ahead with its planned transport turnaround: “Free local transport was the lever to stimulate a real mobility revolution in Luxembourg,” said Luxembourg Mobility Minister François Bausch (Greens) of the German Press Agency. Of course, the corona pandemic temporarily slowed down the initial record passenger numbers in trams, trains and buses. Overall, however, there was a new awareness of a different mobility – one that relies on a mix of modes of transport.

“People, who would never have got on a bus ” With the expansion of the” public transport “a high quality of the offers is essential:” I notice that people are now getting on the tram, who would never have got on a bus before, “said Bausch. With billions of investments in rail and tram, among other things, he wants to 2025 around 50 Lure percent more passengers to public transport. Like many other cities and countries in Europe, Luxembourg suffers from long traffic jams in rush hour traffic.

This is for example the case between the two economic centers in the country – between Luxembourg City and Esch in the south, which are around 20 kilometers apart. “The road infrastructure is mercilessly overloaded. There is a motorway where you drive at high speed at peak times 30,” said the minister. Instead of building a new track, he is planning “a fast light rail” which will ultimately connect the airport via the capital and the university to Belval.

Fast track for buses and car-sharing vehicles Between Luxembourg City and Esch, the light rail system will cover a distance of around ten kilometers up to 100 Drive fast kilometers per hour. In addition, an “express cycle path” is planned along the route. And on the autobahn itself, the breakdown lane is being enlarged so that at peak hours car traffic should turn right so that two lanes are free for express buses and car sharing. “It will be a multimodal corridor.”

The transport concept in Luxembourg cannot be transferred one-to-one to other countries. The Grand Duchy is around 620. 000 residents and 230. 000 Commuters, however, an urban space that is very much comparable with other spaces. Therefore there is also a worldwide interest in Luxembourg’s transport strategy.

Moving people – instead of cars and trains According to UN estimates, 2050 would be more than 70 Percentage of humanity live in large urban areas: “We have to organize the urban areas in a completely different way, especially in terms of mobility,” said Bausch. “We have completely redesigned the entire public space in Luxembourg to give people more space and to bring more life to the city.” This also applies to the climate crisis.

“We want to show that traffic planning in 21. Century is moving away from this obsession that we are building infrastructures to move cars or trains. It’s always about moving people. And that’s why you have to make sure that you always develop corridors into which you can also move the whole Mobility pallet “, he said.

On March 1st of this year, Luxembourg became the first country in the world to have public transport throughout the country for everyone Made users free. You no longer need tickets: just get on and ride. For the Luxembourg state, the free public transport means additional expenditure of 41 million euros per year.

(tiw)