I like what Montpellier (France) is doing, which is a phased approach towards all public transportation free. For now it's for under 18 yo and 65+ yo, and all weekends for everyone, with a phase 3 total gratuity in 2023. I prefer to choose and accordingly pay for my long distance travels, but in the city trips consume a lot of money, on a personal / family level, which is nice to see reduced. And who doesn't want to travel with the nicest tram in France and for free??
It's crucial to both increase density (to limit urban sprawl, which requires that people travel less) and leave the individual ICE car area.
Gratuity of public transport incentivizes taking the bus/train, but it also removes the cost barrier of long-distance transport when deciding where to live and work. If it costs the same to commute:
1. 15 min by foot from work if you live in a small flat
2. 40 min by public transport if you enjoy in a nice little home
We may get more people in buses but we'll eat the Earth faster. Destroying/framgmenting natural habitats will have to bear a market cost, or we must put a hard limit to urban sprawling (which ends up having the same impact on people's finance as it will increase the cost of living far from city center).
