For This City, Fare-Free Transit Is a Big Success

Caltrain's $2.4 billion electrification of 51 miles of track replaced diesel trains with faster electric ones, resulting in ridership increases (it doubled on weekends) and shorter trips. This also led to an 89% reduction in riders' exposure to toxic pollution and an estimated 250,000 metric tons of annual carbon emissions reductions.

Community-first car-sharing options, usually run by cooperatives and nonprofits, are making electric vehicles accessible and affordable for all. They offer cars that anyone can rent for a membership or hourly fee, sometimes partnering with community groups and organizations to lower the rate.

The Open Streets program encourages students to walk and bike to school in an effort to get people out of their cars. Opting for a form of “active transport,” like walking and biking, helps get people moving, offers more social connection and is better for the environment.

The Final Mile project built 335 miles of bike lanes across five U.S. cities in 24 months to provide more transportation options outside of driving cars and make bike riding more accessible, thus addressing the urgent climate crisis, equitable access to goods and services and public health.

In a local school district with a lack of buses, parents, and community members are stepping up to drive the buses and provide transportation to and from school. Working with Mountain Transit, volunteers are able to get trained and licensed to drive the bus routes, resulting in a significant decrease in absences and tardies, and providing a safe means to and from school.

The Kansas City Streetcar provides fare-free transportation for residents, which helps to get them downtown and promote more economic development. The fare-free streetcar also makes transit more equitable by removing barriers for low-income passengers and improving mobility for people with disabilities.

Community members are volunteering to help combat school bus driver shortages by training and receiving their CDL to fill the positions and help out the local school district.

Fewer than 3,000 people died in Japanese car crashes in 2021, compared to almost 43,000 in the United States. This is due to introducing initiatives like the Shinkansen, the world’s first bullet train, which is safer, quicker, and oftentimes more accessible than traditional cars, thus eliminating the need for residents to drive themselves.

Germany’s three-month experiment with €9 tickets for a month of unlimited travel on public transportation saved about 1.8 metric tons of CO2 emissions. The experiment was launched in an effort to cut fuel consumption and relieve a cost of living crisis and sold about 52 million tickets.

The extensive, all-electric tram system in Strasbourg has emerged as a solution to address air pollution and street congestion caused by cars as well as a critical medium of transport as the city expands its low-emission zones. The tramway's ridership has been resilient, even during the pandemic, and its inspiring a revival of the system across France.