Like many other French cities (Nantes, Niort, Dunkirk, Montpellier, etc.), Clermont-Ferrand also wanted to make the use of its transport partially free. Since December 4, 2021, all residents of the Clermont-Ferrand metropolis can use public transport free of charge on weekends.
And why not the rest of the week? On Monday, the mayor of Clermont-Ferrand, Olivier Bianchi, said that he was “not opposed in principle” to the idea, speaking to France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne. “We have to find 15 million euros per year,” he continued. “We have to imagine that this burden no longer falls on the user but on the taxpayer.” In any case, for him, it would be “at the heart of the next municipal campaign” planned for 2026.
Last December, the Montpellier metropolitan area had already introduced free use of buses and trams. Even if this means losing more than 42 million euros each year.
Source: BFM TV
