If you visit any densely populated area of the world, traffic congestion can be a nightmare, with long delays due to gridlock. Some larger cities have tried to combat this with adaptive traffic signals, real-time traffic monitoring and encouraging use of public transportation.
However, a European country has recently gone above and beyond, with a new measure that, besides helping to ease traffic woes, will also be a great thing for tourists.
CNN reports that as of March 1, 2020, the nation of Luxembourg has become the first country in the world to make public transportation free.
The tiny country of just over 600,000 residents tends to rely on private cars for 47% of business-related transportation and 71% of leisure travel. On top of that, over 200,000 people living in the neighboring countries of Belgium, France and Germany commute into Luxembourg, usually by car, for work. So traffic, as well as its environmental repercussions, have been major concerns.
The measure will also provide financial relief to some Luxembourg residents, in the form of not having to pay two Euros (about $3.35) per journey.
The government will be absorbing the cost of making the transportation free, as per Dany Frank, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works. “The country at this very moment is in really good shape. We, the government, want the people to benefit from the good economy.”
Although this is good news for the residents of the nation, it also means that visitors to Luxembourg will be able to use its public transportation – trains, trams, and buses – for free, which will be a nice benefit of visiting the landlocked country.
International travel will still come at a cost, as will first-class seating.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
