Public transport in the Polish city of Tczew has become free for residents

Since September 2023, public transport has been completely free for passengers regardless their age or place of residence in the Polish city of Tczew. The city is located near Gdańsk and has a population of 60,000 people. This is the fifth city in Poland to initiate such a practice. The information is taken from Polish media.

The decision to switch urban public transport to such a scheme was unanimously approved by city deputies in February 2023. The main reason for this decision was the high cost of operating the fare collection system, including ticket machines, cash registers, validators and mobile applications. In addition, the cost of funding the controllers' service was significant. In fact, a significant portion of the funds received from ticket sales was used to maintain the fare collection system.

The city authorities expect that free travel will encourage city residents to switch to public transport from private cars, which will improve the city's environment and, along with the introduction of parking fees, solve the problem of parking in the city centre.

Taking into account the experience of other cities, where the itiative of free public transport has seen a 30-40% increase in passenger traffic, the city has increased the number of rolling stock in the new contract with the carrier. Previously, there were 21 buses operating on city routes, but since 1st September there have been 29, two of which are joined. In addition, all buses are now low-floor and air-conditioned. The fact that drivers no longer need to sell tickets has also reduced travel time and the interval between runs. The city will annually pay the private carrier about PLN 17 million (approximately UAH 141 million) from the city budget for the transport work performed.

In total, as of September 2023, public transport is free for passengers in five cities in Poland. The largest among them is the city of Lubin (not to be confused with Lublin) with a population of about 70 thousand people. In 2024, city of Kalisz with a population of 100,000 people plans to introduce such a scheme, although public transport there will be free only for holders of a city card.

The world's largest city with free public transport is currently the Estonian capital, Tallinn, with a population of about 450,000 people. In Ukraine, as of 2023, free public transport is available in Kryvyi Rih and Kharkiv (in both cities, this applies only to municipal transport).