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LUXEMBOURG
A small landlocked country in western Europe It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. Its capital, Luxembourg City. Luxembourg is a founding member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, and Benelux.
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The US, Great Britain, India, Portugal, Austria,… The announcement that Luxembourg will be the first country to introduce free public transport made headlines across the globe. After the coalition agreement was made public, Luxembourg made it into the headlines of several big international publications.
WHY IN NEWS
Luxembourg is set to become the first country in the world to make all its public transport free. Fares on trains, trams and buses will be lifted From 2020 Public transport was already free for senior citizens.
THE IDEA
It is home to about 110,000 people, but a further 400,000 commute into the city to work. A study suggested that drivers in the capital spent an average of 33 hours in traffic jams in 2016. While the country as a whole has 600,000 inhabitants, nearly 200,000 people living in France, Belgium and Germany cross the border every day to work in Luxembourg.
A WISE MOVE?
Luxembourg’s transport ministry said it cost 491 million euros a year to run public transport, with ticket sales bringing in 40 million euros.
NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY
Luxembourg’s main transport union, expressed concerns that the government plan would lead to job losses if nobody was needed to sell tickets.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT IS MADE FREE IN INDIA?
Difficult to do this in India as there are many problems – A. Government’s fiscal deficit will rise B. Overpopulation will make it difficult to make public transport free C. Could lead to job losses in the transport sector
OBSERVATIONS
From a transportation perspective, India has about 18% of the world’s population and only 2.5% of its land area, but accommodates a fleet of 210 million motor vehicles as of now. This adds to the stress. Global reports have suggested that a car is parked 95% of the time in cities worldwide
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