Which countries have the best public transportation in Europe?
The “Germany ticket” has caused a sensation and some organizations are pushing for similar policies across the EU
Last week, Greenpeace released a report that ranked 30 European countries and their capitals based on the quality of their public transport supply. The countries included the 27 European Union as well as Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The report found that Luxembourg ranked first as a country with a score of 100 points out of 100, while Bulgaria ranked last with a score of zero. When looking at the capital cities, first place was tied between Luxembourg City, Valletta (Malta) and Tallinn (Estonia), while Dublin surprisingly took last place.
Germany’s ticket pushes for change at the European Union level
According to a statement from Greenpeace, the introduction of the Germany Pass on May 1 this year has had an enormous impact on the broader context of public transport, as well as its potential.
The Pass provides passengers with a unified, discounted monthly pass covering all public bus and rail transport in Germany, including domestic and intercity travel, for the low price of €49.
Hungary launched a similar policy on the same day (May 1), while Austria attempted a bid in 2021. Meanwhile, Malta and Luxembourg have opted to make national public transport completely free, dispensing with tickets altogether.
Taxes air travel to pay for public transportation
Through this classification, Greenpeace wants to develop the concept of creating a so-called European Ticket – similar to the German version but valid for the entire bloc.
In order to finance this initiative, the organization proposes that the European Union end tax breaks for international flights, which use polluting kerosene, and improve ticket options and the attractiveness of public transport.
Many countries have expensive transport tickets and six countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia and Croatia) tax tickets as much as they do luxury goods using the standard VAT rate.
Ranking
There were several criteria for creating ratings of countries and capitals, including – the presence of a single ticket for all public transport, discounts for socially disadvantaged people (at least 25% reduction), VAT rate and pricing.
In terms of price, in order to get full points, countries need to have one long-range ticket, giving access to all types of public transport, which costs €1 per day. In the city classification, this price should be 0.50 cents.
Top 10 countries:
1. Luxembourg (100 points),
2. Malta (88 points),
3. Austria (81 points),
4. Germany (69 points),
5. Cyprus (63 points),
6. Spain (62 points),
7. Switzerland (58 points),
8. Hungary (54 points)
9. Netherlands (46 points),
10. Estonia (45 points).
Top 10 cities:
1. Tallinn (100 points), Luxembourg (100 points), Valletta (100 points),
4. Prague (98 points),
5. Bratislava (91 points)
6. Madrid (89.3 points),
7. Roma (88.6 points),
8. Vienna (88.57 points),
9. Athens (88.54 points),
10. Sofia (84.3 points).
