1,000 people in Scotland’s biggest city will be given six weeks of free public transport in a major test to see if it can be implemented city-wide.
The Scottish government has put £225,000 towards the new plan, which will allow those aged 22 to 59 to trial the scheme.
Currently, bus fares in Glasgow can reach up to £5.90 a day, whereas subway rides are capped at £4.30 per day.
Each participant in the programme will be given Strathclyde Partnership for Transport cards for unlimited travel on trains, subways and buses.
Glasgow’s council transport convenor, Angus Millar, said: ‘The pilot aims to explore how free access to public transport affects travel choices, access to services and participants’ overall well-being.’
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Previous estimates found that if the scheme is rolled out city-wide, it would cost around £10.6million each week for those eligible.
Though Glasgow is the first city to trial the idea, there have been questions of how realistic a similar scheme in London would be.
Londoners have been bogged down by the rising cost of travel, coupled with the high prices of everything from food to housing.
Many are spending a chunk of their wages on travel on boiling hot carriages, while brazen fare dodgers irritate paying commuters.
In March, Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line and DLR fares went up by 4.6% along with National Rail tickets, which was above the rate of inflation.
Campaigners from Free Fare London have renewed calls for universal free travel for everyone, including in London, to cut inequality and pollution, and to follow in the footsteps of other smaller European cities and countries.
Introducing universal free travel would help reduce inequality, car use and pollution, and social isolation, Fare Free London says.
Spokesperson Simon Pirani previously told Metro: ‘The Underground network is the best publicly owned network in the country, but it is extremely expensive.
‘We now have the funding settlement between the mayor and the government, which agrees on a fare increase above inflation for four years.
‘The situation for low-income families is unsustainable. The Tube is too expensive, and that funding settlement suggests that there will also be a rise in bus fares, which have been frozen until now.’
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said in August that he is ‘continually looking into new innovative ways to keep London transport as affordable as possible.’
‘The Mayor has worked hard to keep TfL fares fair and affordable for Londoners, whether through freezing TfL fares for five years, introducing the Hopper bus fare, or freezing bus and tram fares for the sixth time since 2016,’ they said.’
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