Newly Elected Luxembourg Govt Pushes For Free Public Transport, Cannabis Legalisation

The government of every country has always urged it’s citizens to make use of public transport. While most countries have made the fare cheaper or free for students and elderly, Luxembourg has taken a bold step to promote the use of public transport. According to the Guardian, there will be no fare applicable on trains, trams, and buses from next summer.

Big decision from the re-elected government

Xavier Bettel, whose party will form a government with the leftwing Socialist worker’s party and greens, was sworn in for a second term as prime minister on Wednesday. As a part of their electoral promise, Xavier’s government will be making public transport free to prioritize environment.

A solution much needed

The city of Luxembourg suffers from some of the worst traffic jams in the world. Although it is home to only about 110,000 people, almost 400,000 people commute into the city for work every day. Almost 200,000 people living in France, Belgium, and Germany cross the border every day to work in this city, hence making it really important to promote the use of public transport.

No tickets

Luxembourg has always had a progressive attitude towards transport. This summer, every child under the age of 20 was given free transport by the government. The shuttles were made free for secondary school students between their college and home. The tickets for daily commuters were also just 2 euros for two hours of travel which in the country of 999 sq miles covers almost all journeys.

To further make the use of public transport comfortable for the citizens, the transportation will be made free, saving the collection of fares. However, the policy is yet to fully go through as a decision is yet to be taken on what has to be done to the fares of first and second class compartments on trains.

More debate on other policy

With the policy of making public transportation free, Xavier Bettel’s government also passed a policy to introduce two more public holidays and legalize the purchase, possession, and consumption of cannabis. This policy on legalizing Cannabis has caused more debate than any of the other policies.

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