German Cities Plan To Start Free Public Transport
German cities are planning to start free public transport services. The German government has suggested this action after the country, together with 7 other EU member states, have not met EU air quality standards. Pollution, especially in large cities, has become a major problem.
Free public transport will be introduced in five cities including Bonn, Essen and Mannheim by the end of the year.
Some major cities have already experimented with free transport services. In Estonia's capital Tallinn, residents have been able to use buses, trams and trains in the city for free since 2013. Paris and Seattle have tried offering free public transport, but only for a short time.
Germany's decision to provide free public transport could prove to be expensive for its taxpayers. Many transport services get up to half of their money through ticket sales. Thus, the federal government would have to subsidize free transport in cities heavily. Experts claim that it may cost up to 12 billion euros in extra money to run the system for free.
Critics of the proposal say such a measure could put too much burden on public transport systems in large cities. Berlin, Hamburg and Munich already have major problems during rush hours and experts state that inviting more people to use public transport would overload existing systems. As a result, even more money would be needed to expand the country's public transport services.
In addition to making cities as car-free as possible, car-sharing schemes, low emission zones and incentives for buying electric cars are also measures that are being considered.
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Words
- action =here: something that someone does or wants to do
- burden = here: to cause problems for ...
- capital = the most important city in a country; where the government is
- car-sharing scheme = plan in which two or more people travel to places using the same car
- claim = to say that something is true
- consider = think about
- especially = above all
- expand = make larger and better
- federal = here: the central government of a country
- government = people who rule a country
- in addition = also
- incentive = something that makes you want to do something
- including = also
- introduce = here: start
- low emission zone = here: an area in which dirty cars or trucks are not allowed to enter because they produce too much pollution
- major = very important
- measure = action, law
- offer = give someone to use
- overload = here: not manage
- pollution = making air, water etc.. dirty
- proposal = suggestion or plan
- provide = give
- public transport = buses, trains, trams etc.. that everyone can use
- resident = here: a person who lives in a city
- run = operate
- rush hour = time of day when buses, trains and trams are full because people are travelling to or from work
- service = here: help or work that a country gives to its people
- standard = the level that you have to reach
- subsidize = to pay part of the costs
- taxpayer = person who pays money to the government according to the income he/she gets from working
- thus = that is why