I live in the only country where public transport is free for everyone - AMA

[expatinspace]

I've been wanting to do a thread like this for a while. I live in Luxembourg which is the only country in the world to offer free public transport to anyone, regardless of whether you are a resident or not.

Happy to answer any questions!

And the drinking age is 16. I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t see many out of control drunken teens and certainly not more than any other country.

I definitely think it's something to be concerned about. I don't really drink alcohol, 1 or 2 drinks a month, my husband a little more, but always at home, we rarely go out 😅So my only real experience is my daughter who lived here from when she was 16 to 18. She would often see young girls from school, aged 14, out in the bars and clubs. We have no idea how they got in because my daughter was always asked for I.D. and it wasn't like she looked young. She never drank in excess, she had a curfew and she stuck to it. She was the one who had to look after her drunk friends and I didn't like that her friends were so intoxicated, nobody was looking out for her.

I've quoted this from a new source: 'Luxembourg is one of the countries in Europe with the highest numbers of alcohol consumption, according to Eurostat. More than one third of the population drinks excessively once a month. 43% of people aged over 15 drink alcohol every week, and almost 9% every day'.

Alcohol is definitely the norm here. Maybe others could chime in with their experience and opinions here.

But it isn't just about the alcohol, it is so expensive here. We're struggling to save like we used to, and in the current economic climate, it would be hard to turn down a job that offers a better 'package' than what we have here.

It would be amazing but there just isn't the money. TFL is already subsidised by the government as the revenue from ticket sales does not cover the operating costs. I do think they should reduce the bus fare cap though, £2 was reasonable.

Hi @sashh , it is. Someone asked a similar question and I answered what I could. I think we posted at the same time so you might not have seen it. My reply is a couple of posts above yours 😊

I think a lot of countries will be observing the likes of Luxembourg to see how much offering free transport reduces car usage. It's problematic for all major cities now. For Luxembourg, it was a bit of a no brainer because it was already heavily subsidised by the government.

The same happened in the UK in the 50's and 60's. Why they totally removed them was bizarre. Lots are now built over with housing developments and major roads. I agree, very short sighted.

I learned to drive in my mid thirties. In that time I definately noticed that outside of London there is a stigma attached to public transport. That people only use it if they have no other option and it is definately seen as transport for poor people. I once was asked why I used the 'poverty wagon' by a coworker.

Is there a stigma like that in Luxembourg now PT is free?

I'm going to come back later and answer/reply to those who I haven't yet but I wanted to share this; https://www.visitluxembourg.com/luci-order-7
If you're interested in vsiting Luxembourg, you can order a free copy of Luci, which is a travel magazine by visit Luxembourg, and they'll post it you to, anywhere in the world, for free.

A note on alcohol. Luxembourg is often quoted as having one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in Europe but I don’t think that this takes into account the fact that alcohol is cheaper here than in France, Belgium and Germany. This means that much of the alcohol bought here is consumed elsewhere IYSWIM.
It is also unusual to see the binge drinking teens/young adults here. Whenever I go back to UK I’m always shocked by the public drunkenness (I normally visit towns along the south coast).

Thank you by the way for starting this thread and apologies for muscling in with answers! I do love living Luxembourg and it’s nice to talk about it sometimes 😁.

vis à vis Bonnevoie - yep, it’s not what it used to be. Friends of mine are moving away as they got fed up with break ins, urine on their doorstep etc.

Oh I will love this thread when I get to sit and read it. We have been to Luxembourg a couple of times for short breaks and LOVE it there. So much beauty and of course the free public transport was exceptional as a bonus and of course the lower tax rates for service etc in restaurants is brilliant for our pockets. The first time we went I had friends asking where it was or if it was a proper separate country lol

And the Luxepass will give discounts too for a lot of places. We really used ours the last time we were over.

Amazing! Do the government have plans to make it free for the rest of Serbia?

Please can you tell me more about this- what was the name of the bus company, where did you catch the bus exactly etc? Thanks.

Some fantastic advice for visitors @SugarPlumpFairyCakes, thank you.

You are now an official Luxembourger 👏 that's fantastic! I can see how people who move here, end up staying, especially when you take into consideration things like the pension, the health care system and the offer of citizenship after 5 years.

I've been to Luxembourg once, ironically for cheap petrol. Popped to a fuel station and left. Is the petrol still cheap or have they increased it to discourage cars?

16 just feels so young to me to be out in bars and clubs but this is reassuring to know so thank you for sharing.

How big is Luxembourg?

Wow, great question, I've never actually thought about it like that!

I certainly don't think like that and I've never actually heard anyone else say anything like this. My children have friends who are from very wealthy families and the kids all ride the buses together when they're going out with no issue from the wealthy parents at all.

No need to apologise at all, you actually helped me because I went MIA for a little while and ruffled a few feathers in doing so 😆

It's also great for everyone to hear other people's experiences and opinions and not just mine.

Luxembourg is just such an easy place to live isn't it.

The petrol is still cheap here 😆

I've just looked up how much tax you'd pay on 80,000 € per year. That's 6,666 € per month and this is the breakdown:

Health care:
186.65 €

Health contributions:
16.67 €

Pension:
533.28 €

Care insurance:
83.86 €

Tax:
1345.90 €

Net:
4499.65 €

It's really interesting seeing the breakdown like that. I wondered whether people would need an additional pension or whether that would be enough. I assume the care insurance is for care homes when you're older?

If anyone here's on £80,000 it would be interesting to compare take home pay.

Was just going to say this about Madrid

It’s about 10% larger than Cheshire. With a population of 660,000.

circa 50% of the population in Lux City are foreigners.

So many different nationalities here. It kind of makes learning the local languages less pressing though.

What sort of job can you do there speaking English?

Finance is huge. And English appears to be ok to work in that sector.

so many international companies here too. Ferrero and Amazon for example where Englsh is the office language. International schools too where they are all taught in English.

Obviously it’s far better and to your advantage fo have French. There’s a state subsidised language school here called INL. For €180 you can go twice a week for 90 minute classes for five months.