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Comment by Angostura | Hacker News Reader

Sounds like a good idea. Transport for London already does this.

Toronto (TTC) is also free for kids 12 and under.

Ghent (Belgium) has also done this for several years already. Among others, my kids' school uses this for local activities such as going to one of the city parks (a weekly activity in certain years/classes); only the teacher and non-local kids don't ride for free, total cost for the school is much less.

It is free also in Rome for kids under 10 years

In France, Lille did make it free for all. This is probably helpful to reduce car needs.

Living part time there, this claim is false.

Are you sure about public transportation being free in Lille? (I've been there often and I've never heard of that.)

I'm not entirely sure.. my memories are fuzzy.

Probably confusing it with Dunkirk. It's the largest and latest (back in september 2018) city to implement free for all.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratuit%C3%A9_des_transports_e...

Most probably.

When I was in Lille several years ago, you were supposed to buy a ticket but it really wasn't enforced at all. The ticket machines were to the side of the train entry, and there were no turnstiles or anything like that. My first time I got on without even realizing I was supposed to pay.

This is the norm for nearly every form of transit in Switzerland and Germany, among a few other countries. I use buses and trams daily as well as urban trains and seem to be checked every 1-2 months, on average.

It works partly because the fines are relatively significant and levels of public trust and integrity are likely more universal, so there are few "Schwarzfahrers" (fare dodgers, literally "black travelers").

I've had to tell tourists the local transit is not free though, so maybe it needs to be marked better for them.

Out of curiosity, where was this?

Heidelberg.

They didn't have signs to that effect (regarding fares)?

Caltrain has the same "honor" system, but conductors often do proof-of-payment checks.

Lille's subway is "driverless".

as noted below, it's Dunkirk

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