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Estonia To Become the World's First Free Public Transport Nation (citylab.com)
On July 1st, the country of Estonia will create the largest 24/7 free public transit zone in the world, making it feasibly possible to travel by bus from one end of the 1.3 million-strong Baltic nation to the other without paying a cent. CityLab reports: Estonia is already a world leader in free public transit: In 2013, all public transit in its capital, Tallinn, became free to local residents (but not tourists or other visitors, even those from other parts of the country). The new national free-ride scheme with extend this model even further, making all state-run bus travel in rural municipalities free and extending cost-free transit out from the capital into other regions. The plan will not, however, extend Tallinn's existing free public transit policies to other Estonian cities, and it also won't make riding Tallinn transit free to visitors (at least, not initially). So while most of the country's land area and population -- which is overwhelmingly concentrated around Tallinn -- should get fare-free daily lives, it's not precisely the case that no Estonian will ever buy a bus ticket in their own country again. Further reading: Pop-Up City
In Europe things are a big different and folks from all economic levels take buses. I used to work in Walldorf, Germany . . . home to SAP. Those well earning folks would take a train from scenic Heidelberg to Walldorf, and then jump on a public bus to SAP.
In the USA, I don't want to take a bus, because they are dirty boxes filled with filthy heathens. When I was in Panama, I used buses more than rental cars or taxis. People were in general quite polite and helpful there, and their long-distance buses were universally nicer than Greyhounds. It's not that I'm allergic to buses. I just know what being on them is like in this country, and I'm not interested. I grew up riding the bus everywhere to which I didn't bike or walk, because we were poor AF. Miss me with that shit.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"