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Porto introduces free public transport for all city residents (eutoday.net)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/publictransport@slrpnk.net
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The measure came into force on 10 July 2026

[...] the annual financial requirement is likely to be between €20 million and €25 million.

[...]

The policy is intended to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and use public transport for journeys within Porto and the surrounding urban region.

[Mayor] Duarte has cautioned that abolishing fares will not, by itself, resolve Porto’s congestion problems. He described the programme as part of a broader mobility strategy that must also include faster services, better connections, increased capacity and more reliable journey times.

Porto currently has about 16 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes. The municipality plans to increase this to approximately 22 kilometres by the end of 2026, giving buses greater priority over private vehicles on some of the city’s busiest routes.

The mayor said public transport would need to become more convenient and dependable than travelling by car before a substantial change in daily habits could be expected. The municipality’s objective is for public transport to become the main means of travelling around Porto, with private cars taking a secondary role.

The scheme is unusual because Porto is paying for its residents to travel across the entire metropolitan network rather than offering free journeys only inside the municipality.

The Porto Metropolitan Area comprises 17 municipalities, each of which remains responsible for its own spending decisions. [...]

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[–] 5 points 2 months ago (9 children)

I have yet to see any city where the reason more people don't use public transit is the lack of good service as opposed to the cost for fares. Thus free fares is fixing the wrong problem, if you have money for free fares you have money to give more people better service.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    What is your evidence that that is the reason?

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Cities that make their service better get larger jumps in ridership than cities that make fares free. Also rider surveys reveal that cost is way down on the list of concerns, while better service is always near the top. (better service is either more frequent, or serving more places)

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  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    A city can have both free public transportation and good service and the source of the funds shouldn't matter if it comes from taxes or fares. Fares, however, do impact poor people more, create a need for enforcement and thus criminalizing additional, and a need for a system to collect the fare. In a lot of ways, free public transport is simpler and better for the users.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

    The system to collect fares is cheap compared to what it gets, unless you're system is so bad only those with no other options use it. In most places even the poor have other options.

    Not that we shouldn't think of the poor, but they are a minority and we should think of the wealthy as well, no reason a rich person shouldn't use transit, but if it isn't good they won't.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago

    Some people might decide to take public transport instead of paying for car fuel if they feel a need to save money. With free public transport it is always clear what the cheaper option is.

    Also public transport needs to be subsidized anyway, at some point you are actively wasting money by collecting fares if the staff and infrastructure for enforcing fares is more expensive than the income from fares.

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    • 7 comments in c/fuckcars@lemmy.world view that post
    [–] 15 points 2 months ago

    The scheme is unusual because Porto is paying for its residents to travel across the entire metropolitan network rather than offering free journeys only inside the municipality.

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    [–] 11 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Portugal is dope

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    • [–] 9 points 2 months ago

    Yes, yes, yes! It's the only way to fight emissions from cars, to encourage people to leave their cars at home, and even bring in programmes and laws to actively discourage them from using their cars.

    I've been car free for over a decade, and while it isn't always fun, I do prefer a comfortable train ride to having to drive myself in traffic. And people love you complain about the cost of public transport, but I still pay far less than my friends on travel expenses evey month.

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    [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    Bravo!

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    [–] 5 points 2 months ago

    Because it's free for residents only, all the fare-collection infrastructure and bureaucracy has to remain in order to collect from non-resident riders. I assume Porto gets its fair share of tourism (if not more), but I wonder how the budgeting works out in terms of whether it's worth it to keep probably about the same costs to capture a smaller chunk of revenue.

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    [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    Hey, I live here! Hi from Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. I’m an American, but I’ve lived here for four years now. Public transportation here is really excellent - you get within like a 10 minute walk of anywhere you probably want to go on the metro, throughout the entire metropolitan area. Fun fact, the Porto metro is kind of unique in that it uses light rail train sets. So it’s kind of a “Stadtbahn”, as it runs underground in tunnels downtown, and at street level out of the city centre. But it’s always on dedicated tracks, never with traffic and never has to wait for a traffic light or anything. Very unusual! Anyways, if anyone wants to know anything about this beautiful city or its transportation network, ask away!

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    2 comments in c/upliftingnews@lemmy.world view that post
    [–] 7 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Been there this summer, beautiful city but cars everywhere, even in those nice narrow streets. It was insane.

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