Aubagne -- fare free streetcars -- a first.

Carfree France

French city Aubagne will probably the first streetcar in the world completely free!

Aubagne (France) never stops innovating. In 2009, the Urban Community of the Pays d'Aubagne and Etoile (100,000 inhabitants) introduced totally free public transport on the entire network for all users, whether residents the urban community of Aubagne and beyond. Today, Aubagne even start building a streetcar line!

This is, to our knowledge, the first streetcar line in the world will be totally free for users!

The work of the future streetcar is expected to begin late 2011, early 2012. The first phase will be delivered end of 2013. Two other phases are coming in 2016 and 2019.

Total cost of this project? About 144 million euros for a line of 9 km with 19 stations (one every 500 meters); this is a very low price, the cost per kilometer is € 16 million, making the project the cheapest in France.The technical and financial decisions were approved by the french government, which granted the project a grant of € 13.76 million, as part of the "Grenelle de l’Environnement" and stating that the project "fully meets the challenges of sustainable mobility."

The project will be funded by the State, the Region, the Department and a 35-year loan to be repaid by the "transport tax" annualy paid by companies.

So it is a world first, Aubagne will probably the first streetcar in the world completely free!

Source: http://carfree.free.fr/index.php/2011/07/06/aubagne-aura-le-premier-tramway-au-monde-entierement-gratuit/

Gibraltar Chronicle - The Independent Daily First Published 1801

Gibraltar Chronicle - The Independent Daily First Published 1801: "“The introduction of free bus fares on four of the five routes, is aimed at encouraging the increase in use of public transport and therefore a decrease in the use of private motor vehicles, so as to deliver an environmental gain, as well as improved traffic circulation. The introduction of the new bus routes and free bus service on most routes will represent further significant progress of the Plan.”"

Ohio College, community, partner to offer free transportation - News

College, community partner to offer free transportation - News: "Students in need of a ride are in luck, as Marietta College has teamed up with Washington-Morgan Community Action to provide free public transportation.

Executive Director of College Relations Tom Perry said that this is a relatively new service and has not been brought to the attention of many students yet."

Utah fare-free transit district adds buses to fleet.

The Cache Valley Transit District has purchased five new buses in an effort to increase the number of spares in the fleet.

Until recently, the organization had been operating with just one spare bus. Now, the CVTD will have four spares on hand and 32 total vehicles.

"What this does is it helps us get up to an acceptable spare ratio," said Todd Beutler, the CVTD's general manager. "We were operating with one spare vehicle, which is really tough when you're trying to keep service out on the street."

Beutler said the CVTD will be able to operate service more efficiently and with greater flexibility if a bus is in an accident or needs maintenance.

"We've been researching this for quite some time, and we determined it was probably time to jump into the market," said Beutler.

Two of the vehicles are 35-foot hybrid buses, and three are 40-foot commuters.

The hybrids are powered by clean diesel electrical propulsion systems. According to the CVTD, these buses help reduce emissions, save on fuel, and are quieter than conventional buses.

Beutler said the hybrids perform best in hilly and low-speed areas, noting they will be used on routes near Utah State University and Logan's Cliffside neighborhood, for instance.

The other buses, which have higher seating capacity, will be used mainly for the Cache Valley north and south routes and service to Idaho.

HJNews

Citylink Edmond ridership nearly triples » Local News » The Edmond Sun

Citylink Edmond ridership nearly triples » Local News » The Edmond Sun: "EDMOND — Ridership on Edmond’s relatively new public transit service has nearly tripled during its first year, a city official said.

During Wednesday’s City Council workshop members of the Edmond Public Transportation Committee, chaired by Councilman David Miller, discussed the increase in ridership with Citylink Edmond.

The city’s new free public transportation service, managed by McDonald Transit, began operating in July 2009, and currently manages eight buses equipped with bike racks and wheelchair tie-downs, according to the city. Two Expresslink buses seat 30 passengers each while the six local route buses can carry 19 passengers each."

Libourne va être la 13ème ville à adopter les transports gratuits

La ville de Libourne (Gironde) s’apprête à lancer samedi la gratuité totale de son réseau de bus pour ses habitants, rejoignant avec ce dispositif 12 autres villes françaises ayant fait le même choix, a indiqué la mairie dans un communiqué.

« Le réseau Libus était déjà gratuit pour les moins de 18 ans depuis le 1er janvier 2009; cette gratuité sera étendue à l’ensemble des Libournais samedi 28 août 2010″, selon ce communiqué.

« Grâce à ce dispositif, on pense passer dès la première année de 350.000 à au moins 400.000 voyages », explique Michel Lalanne-Dasque, directeur de la Société des transports libournais.

La gratuité des bus publics constituait, selon la mairie, « une des promesses phares de Gilbert Mitterrand (maire socialiste de Libourne depuis 1989, ndlr), lors des élections de 2008″.

Son coût sera pris en charge par le prélèvement transports auprès des entreprises de plus de neuf salariés, qui était auparavant consacré aux travaux de voirie.

Ville de 24.000 habitants, Libourne, sous-préfecture de la Gironde, rejoint 12 villes françaises, comme Compiègne (Oise), Châteauroux (Indre) et Aubagne (Bouches-du-Rhône), qui pratiquent la gratuité des bus publics.

Et parce qu’une bonne nouvelle n’arrive jamais seule, Libus se dote depuis le 1er juillet de nouvelles lignes et les bus ont adopté un nouveau look, aux couleurs du logo que les libournais ont élu! En outre, un tirage au sort est organisé pour tous ceux qui prendront leur carte gratuite Libus avec deux vélos à assistance électrique à gagner. AFP via CarfreeFrance

Citylink Ridership Up 60 Percent | KSBI Thunder TV | News Sports Radar Weather Cams | Oklahoma City | News

Citylink Ridership Up 60 Percent | KSBI Thunder TV | News Sports Radar Weather Cams | Oklahoma City | News: "Citylink Ridership Up 60 Percent
The City of Edmond transportation program is reporting some encouraging numbers.
Officials say Citylink's ridership has increased by 60 percent this year. More passengers are traveling on all transportation routes, including paratransit and Expresslink to Oklahoma City.
'We're very excited that it went up 60 percent. We didn't expect it to do that� much, but we're very excited, very proud of it,' said Alonda Massey, City Link Transit General Manager.
Officials say Citylink is also under budget for its first year of operation and they are even considering adding more routes. Total expenditures for the first year were $875,000, which is below the $978,000 budget allocation for the project.

City Link rides are free of charge. Eight new buses were purchased with $600,000 in federal stimulus money."