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Making public transport irresistible? The introduction of a free public transport ticket for state employees and its effects on mode use

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  • Busch-Geertsema, Annika
  • Lanzendorf, Martin
  • Klinner, Nora

Abstract

To increase its attractiveness for employees, to save costs regarding parking supply and to foster modal shift away from the car, employers can offer sharply cost-reduced public transport tickets. In the state of Hesse/Germany, public authorities have gone one step further by introducing a cost-free public transport ticket for all state employees. We argue that the step from sharply cost-reduced to cost-free is more than just a monetary difference. The aim of this study is to assess whether the ticket is actually affecting employees and what changed their travel behaviour. Therefore, we have analysed a two-wave survey conducted at Goethe University in Frankfurt: one from before and one from after the introduction of the new ticket. The results show a substantial increase in the use of public transport (pt) for commuting and other trip purposes. Car use and availability, however, did not decrease. In particular, those who had no cost-reduced jobticket beforehand switched to public transport after the introduction. Furthermore, we identified increasing public transport use for low-income employees (inclusion hypothesis) and several indicators pointing towards a more multimodal behaviour (multimodal hypothesis).

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  • Busch-Geertsema, Annika & Lanzendorf, Martin & Klinner, Nora, 2021. "Making public transport irresistible? The introduction of a free public transport ticket for state employees and its effects on mode use," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 249-261.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:106:y:2021:i:c:p:249-261
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.04.007
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