Public policies

Evaluating free public transport during air pollution peaks

The Lille European Metropolis (MEL) has decided to make public transport free during pollution peaks. This measure aims both at providing residents with a strong incentive to use public transport when air pollution has reached hazardous levels, and at making car use restrictions also imposed during those peaks more acceptable to MEL residents. To date, no similar measure has been evaluated using a scientific protocol, and it is thus difficult to have an objective view of potential results. The MEL has thus decided to rigorously evaluate its own measure, both to ascertain its relevance and to guide future decision-making. 6t has developed the evaluation protocol and will, along with the Cerema, be in charge of this evaluation, which will be based on a large-scale phone survey of a representative sample of the MEL population, as well as on in-depth qualitative interviews.