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How persuasive is 'free' public transport?: A survey among commuters in the Brussels Capital Region

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  • De Witte, Astrid
  • Macharis, Cathy
  • Mairesse, Olivier

Abstract

In Belgium, several cities have been experimenting with 'free' public transport based on the concept of a third payer system. This study explores the modal shift potential of this measure for commuters by means of a large-scale survey. The results indicate that there is still a margin for a further modal shift, but in order to make public transport more attractive to car users, the price paid by the commuter should be lowered, the quality and capacity of the public services should be improved and the mobility policy of the companies should be adjusted in favour of public transport.

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  • De Witte, Astrid & Macharis, Cathy & Mairesse, Olivier, 2008. "How persuasive is 'free' public transport?: A survey among commuters in the Brussels Capital Region," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 216-224, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:15:y:2008:i:4:p:216-224
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    Cited by:

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    3. Macharis, Cathy & De Witte, Astrid, 2012. "The typical company car user does not exist: The case of Flemish company car drivers," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 91-98.
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    7. Van Malderen, Laurent & Jourquin, Bart & Thomas, Isabelle & Vanoutrive, Thomas & Verhetsel, Ann & Witlox, Frank, 2012. "On the mobility policies of companies: What are the good practices? The Belgian case," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 10-19.
    8. Abou-Zeid, Maya & Ben-Akiva, Moshe, 2012. "Travel mode switching: Comparison of findings from two public transportation experiments," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 48-59.
    9. Laurent Van Malderen & Bart Jourquin & Isabelle Thomas & Thomas Vanoutrive & Ann Verhetsel & Frank Witlox, 2011. "Employer Mobility Plans: Acceptability, Efficiency And Costs," ERSA conference papers ersa10p291, European Regional Science Association.
    10. Krzysztof Grzelec & Aleksander Jagiełło, 2020. "The Effects of the Selective Enlargement of Fare-Free Public Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-18, August.
    11. Kurniawan, Jude Herijadi & Ong, Corinne & Cheah, Lynette, 2018. "Examining values and influences affecting public expectations of future urban mobility: A Singapore case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 66-75.
    12. Eccarius, Timo & Leung, Abraham & Shen, Chung-Wei & Burke, Matthew & Lu, Chung-Cheng, 2021. "Prospects for shared electric velomobility: Profiling potential adopters at a multi-campus university," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    13. Cools, Mario & Fabbro, Yannick & Bellemans, Tom, 2016. "Free public transport: A socio-cognitive analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 96-107.
    14. De Witte, Astrid & Hollevoet, Joachim & Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Hubert, Michel & Macharis, Cathy, 2013. "Linking modal choice to motility: A comprehensive review," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 329-341.
    15. Laurent Van Malderen & Bart Jourquin & Isabelle Thomas, 2012. "Employers Transport Plans: Do They Change The Commuting Behaviour Of Workers?," ERSA conference papers ersa12p1048, European Regional Science Association.
    16. Tercan, Şafak Hengirmen, 2021. "Second-hand renovated trams as a novel decision strategy for public transport investment," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 364-371.
    17. Cass, Noel & Faulconbridge, James, 2016. "Commuting practices: New insights into modal shift from theories of social practice," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-14.
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    19. Zahwa Al-Ayyash & Maya Abou-Zeid, 2019. "Investigating commute satisfaction differences of private car users and public transport users in a developing country context," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 515-536, June.

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