Fwd: The City Where Free Buses Changed Everything | Planetizen Features

[John Pelletier]

https://www.planetizen.com/features/136973-city-where-free-buses-changed-everything

First Dunkirk is about 2k fewer people than Newton, and is only ~100 people/sq mi more dense, so actually pretty close in comparison.

A couple key points:

• it took four years from 2014 to 2018
• authorities publicized the program in the media and on the streets
• carried out surveys with residents
• simplified and reworked timetables for a scheduled arrival every ~10 minutes
• improved the quality of vehicles and maintenance turnaround time
• re-positioned bus stops
• increased the size of the fleet. 
• 2015, they launched free travel on weekends as a testing period
• Costs ~$20 USD million out of a $590 USD million city budget

" A 2019 study by the Observatory of Free Transport Cities, an independent body, found that the policy has led to residents making more trips to the city center, that about half of the new bus riders were taking bus journeys they previously made by car, and that the attractiveness and image of the city has improved. "

" Separate research in 2021 found that free buses are helping young people in Dunkirk shift away from the “idealized” image of private car ownership. Indeed, according to Montagne, city hall figures show that 10 percent of Dunkirk bus users have abandoned their cars since 2018, cutting use of city parking lots by 30 percent."

All that said I want to point out this study referenced in the article:

" A report published in September 2025 by France’s Court of Auditors found that free public transport in smaller cities led to ridership increases at a limited cost, but in larger, already well-used networks, the introduction of free transit is “very costly” because it is accompanied by significant losses in fare revenue and additional costs related to the necessary reinforcement of the existing network, which is under greater strain. "

We know the pluses and minuses, just wanted to share, more data helps keep us all informed I think!  

There are far more logistical issues with the MBTA, and the recent articles show Boston is trying to figure out if keeping its fare-free pilots are worth it, especially with a looming deficit... 

[Nedeljkovic, Srdjan S.,MD]

John,

Thanks for sharing this information. Certainly, this is an example to look up to in terms of implementation and execution!

https://dkbus.transdev-hdf.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PlanRe%CC%81seau-2025-09-70x50-WEB2.pdf

The service (16 bus lines) and frequency (every 10 min on 6 lines) are super, which is why they have 75,000 trips per day, and 20 million trips per year. It amounts to about 200 trips per resident per year.

https://www.dkbus.com/

In Newton, we have 8 bus lines and had a ridership of around 2000 passengers inbound per day, which would probably be equivalent to 4000 trips per day. It amounts to around 5 x 2 roundtrip trips per resident per year.

In France, they are subsidizing the bus at $1 per trip while the MBTA is collecting only 15% from fares and is therefore subsidizing our buses at a higher level than fare-free Dunkirk.

Generally, the reporting on fare-free transit is positive, and this example in a medium-size city in France is yet another example.

Srdj

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From: newt...@googlegroups.com <newt...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of John Pelletier <john.f.p...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2026 8:56 PM
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Subject: Fwd: The City Where Free Buses Changed Everything | Planetizen Features

 

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