Vail, CO, free service started with 2 buses in 1969, now carries 3.2 million rides a year

@VailGov

In fact, the town's bus service is considered to be among the largest free transportation systems in the country offering its residents and guests timely service to and from Vail Mountain and throughout town.
https://www.vailgov.com/bus-information 

[2014] Buses become free in Zory, Poland, ridership quadruples, more service added

The city also argued that free public transport including encourage residents to give up cars every day, reduce barriers to access to education, culture or recreation, and improve the situation of large families. "The observations of drivers and our officials show that the number of passengers - from May to July - increased by up to four times in buses" - Anna Ujma from the City Hall in Żory told PAP.
Recently, the local government has suggested to residents that they submit comments on the functioning of free public transport (comments and applications were submitted, among others, by email). As Ujma said, their goal was, among others determining the residents' needs. "The three basic requests concerned especially the introduction of larger buses, adapting the timetable to the needs of students, and increasing the number of stops" - said Ujma.
She added that buses that could accommodate more passengers than previously appeared on route 5 in the Rój district and on route 6 in the Baranowice district, three new stop locations are being prepared, including at the Sikorski estate

[google translate]
https://fptpoland.blogspot.com/2014/08/zory-poland-freetransit-increases.html
https://www.forbes.pl/csr/bezplatna-komunikacja-w-zorach-cieszy-sie-popularnoscia/eh2fz1v 

Dayton, Ohio, Fare-free downtown circulator, ridership jumps, bus added

The Flyer originally had three buses in rotation on the route at any given time. Olson said the RTA has added a fourth bus because of the high volumes of riders and increased traffic on Brown Street. 

The Flyer now has 37 stops, including two new ones. One is by the Schuster Center, across from Premier Health’s downtown headquarters at 110 N. Main St. The other is at the pavilion at RiverScape MetroPark.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/downtown-dayton-free-shuttle-service-gets-new-stops-new-bus/TYN3x2pft9TkTFXbExHSQO/ 

Dunkirk, France, ridership up, service expanded, with #freepublictransport

Free #public #transit in Dunkirk at #France is a step towards #sustainability! 🌱

CC @JJ_Angelus @ingridcapuni @CRudinschi @ShiCooks @Victoryabro @OphelieJanus @andrewmorrisuk @ClimateChangeOb @GabryL @JosephPrigith #Sustainable #ClimateEmergency #ActOnClimate

Via WasteEd pic.twitter.com/RBs6dEoRsI

— Dev Khanna (@jrzaranoid) February 9, 2020

Calais : une fréquentation en hausse de 70% depuis la gratuité des transports en commun

Calais est la deuxième ville des Hauts-de-France à opter pour la gratuité des transports en commun dans toute l’agglomération calaisienne. Depuis le 2 janvier dernier, les titres de transports n’existent plus, mais le bonjour au chauffeur reste de mise ! Côté chiffres, Daniel Roussel, l’instigateur de cette nouveauté annonce un succès sans contestation possible. Sur certaines lignes, les passagers sont 120% de plus que lorsque les bus étaient payants. Les parcours ne changent pas et les usagers peuvent se déplacer sur les 14 communes que compte l’agglomération Grand Calais Terres & Mers.

https://www.neozone.org/societe/calais-une-frequentation-en-hausse-de-70-depuis-la-gratuite-des-transports-en-commun/ 

Fare-free transit system in North Carolina breaks ridership record

wataugademocrat.com 

BOONE — AppalCART, Boone’s free public transportation system, recorded a new record of single-day ridership on Thursday, Oct. 31, with more than 18,000 passengers, according to the organization.

Ridership triples with fare-free public transport

One major step that Chamonix took towards reducing pollution is making all public transport free for both residents and visitors. The move to make public transport free costs the municipality five million euros per year, but has tripled the number of people using the system each year.

http://www.arsmb.com/heres-air-pollution-chamonix-bad/ 

Montana town sees ridership double with fare-free #publictransit

By all measures, the Zero-Fare project has been an incredible success, demonstrating how thoughtful public investments can be leveraged with private donations to achieve important community goals.

By December 2017, transit ridership had nearly doubled in Missoula, increasing an incredible 70 percent, from 900,000 to more than 1.5 million rides per year. This surge occurred primarily in response to the Zero-Fare program, as well as new, high-frequency 15-minute (Bolt!) routes and expanded evening service.

https://www.missoulacurrent.com/opinion/2018/12/mountain-line-zero-fare-2/ 

Idaho Falls, seniors ride fare-free

magicvalley.com With limited funding, the transportation authority has little ability to advertise its services. But ridership has ticked up recently, especially since a new grant allowed the authority to provide rides to seniors for free.

Here in Idaho, he said, public transportation isn’t something a lot of people think about until they need it.

Estonia #freepublictransport shows sharp rise in ridership

news.err.ee According to the Road Administration's public transport statistic, the number of passengers across all counties that introduced free public transport on 1 July this year has increased by 20%. In Ida-Viru County, passenger numbers almost doubled.

The introduction of free public transport has increased the number of passengers by 92% in Ida-Viru County. Kirke Williamson, in charge of the Road Administration's public transport department, told ERR that the changeover to the state-funded free transport scheme has been smooth, and that it has had a positive effect on passenger numbers everywhere it was introduced.

Ridership up sharply as town in France makes buses fare-free

European cities consider making public transport free to tackle air pollution : "Niort in western France has been running free buses since last September for its 125,000 inhabitants.

The scheme has been an enormous success, boosting passenger numbers by 130 per cent on some routes, slightly reducing the number of cars on the roads, and costing the town little more than when people had to buy tickets, said mayor Jérôme Baloge."

Rēzekne, Latvia, free rides lead to 40% rise in ridership

Jūrmala mulls free public transportation for locals / Article / LSM.LV: "The scheme operational in Rēzekne, however, provides free rides for people who earn less than 90% of the average national monthly wage.

"The number of passengers has increased 40 to 50%.. Pupils and students have started to use this opportunity quite actively," says Rēzekne mayor Andrejs Rešetņikovs (Harmony). The scheme costs €320,000 to €340,000 for the city. "

Free rides and investment raises ridership

kingstonregion : "So how successful have all these initiatives been? The average increase in public transit ridership across the province over the past three years has been below 2 per cent. Kingston achieved 13 per cent in 2014, 11.3 per cent in 2015 and 11.5 per cent 2016. And it continues to grow. Transit riders grew from 4.6 million in 2015 to 5.2 million in 2016. Our busiest day ever, not surprisingly, was 30,000 riders on August 20, the day of the final concert of The Tragically Hip and the live Market Square screening."

Missoula Mountain Line lists the benefits of Zero Fare

Mountain Line - Zero Fare: "On January 5, 2015, Mountain Line’s fixed route and door-to-door services began operating at zero-fare. Along with the addition of a second high-frequency BOLT! Route 2 and Late Evening Service, the community partnership goal was to increase ridership at Mountain Line 45 percent within the three years of the zero-fare demonstration project — that’s an annual ridership increase of 400,000!  In 2015, Mountain Line has already added an additional 350,000 rides, with hopes of this growth continuing in 2016.

What’s important to know about zero-fare? Here are some of the more significant benefits that transit agencies across the nation have found in operating zero-fare systems :"

Miami free trolley doubles ridership, set to expand service

http://www.miamigov.com/trolley/index.html

Miami Herald: "Shuttle bus or circulator routes that carried more than eight million passengers last year in 27 municipalities are the services riders and public officials alike praise as successful transit programs.

Last month, for example, the Miami city commission approved expansion of its bus shuttle system, known as a trolley service, into Wynwood, Coconut Grove and other neighborhoods.

“It’s been so successful that we are deciding to double the size of the program,” said Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, a key South Florida transit proponent. “We have 360,000 riders a month, well beyond our initial modeling.”"

Now 26 towns in France with #freetransit - ridership up 150% in Gaillac

carfree france : "It was an election promise of the mayor, the town of Gaillac in the Tarn (13 629 inhabitants) go to free public transport on September 13. Gaillac French will be the 26th city to pass to the free transit .

On June 11, the elected council of Gaillac were particularly careful when reporting network activity "Bougenbus", composed of six bus lines.

With nearly 84,000 trips recorded from September 2012 to August 2013, traffic increased by 150% in one year. "

#Freetransit a big success in Kuala Lumpur

GTP 2013: Better efficiency boosts public transport ridership - Latest - New Straits Times: "To encourage more people to use public transport, the government also emphasised improving passenger facilities such as constructing more Park ‘n’ Ride facilities at major LRT stations and providing the free GO-KL city bus service. "

#Freetransit leads to more riders, more buses

Photo credit: BeeFortyTwo (cc)

Green Blog: ""The result is incredible," said Niklas Sirén, Vice Chairman of the municipal executive board in Kiruna. "We did not dare set a figure as a goal. There is a very strong car culture, it is sparsely populated here and we figured Kiruna residents are deeply rooted in their driving. We were pleasantly surprised. More people are choosing to leave their cars more often."

Niklas Sirén and his local Left Party was behind the suggestion to introduce free public transportation in 2011 on a trial basis. Back then, in 2010, only 120 000 trips were made. But since free public transit was introduced, travel has tripled in Kiruna and the experiment has now become permanent. Last year more than 387 000 trips were made in Kiruna.

"This has broken a downward spiral for public transport," Sirén said to ETC. "Previously, there would mostly be only empty buses. Now comes the expectation of more rides and lines. The next step is to expand public transport.""

Free is cheaper. Hasselt was able to lower taxes after implementing #freetransit

CarFree Times Issue 7: "The Fall, 1997, issue of Carfree Times reported that Hasselt, Belgium, had made its bus system free. The mayor rejected plans for a third ring highway, converted one existing ring highway into a pedestrian and bicycle street, and made the buses free. Since then, bus ridership has increased by 800%. This initiative has been so successful in attracting new business to Hasselt that taxes have been cut and the city's debt is down. To celebrate the first anniversary of the changes, the mayor announced free bicycles. One of the reasons the measure was adopted was a shortage of funds - the city did not have enough money to expand its roads. Free buses were a cheaper alternative, and it worked. The city had been slowly losing population, but since the new measures were adopted, population has been rising 25 times faster than it had been shrinking."

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AppalCART Sets Record for System-Wide Ridership | High Country Press

AppalCART Sets Record for System-Wide Ridership | High Country Press: "The AppalCART system is growing each year. The first year in operation, the AppalCART only saw 286,000 passengers for the entire year. That number can now be matched in a month."

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