STIB lost €130,000 in income from free metro rides on car free Sunday

STIB lost €130,000 in income from free metro rides on car free Sunday
© Belga

An estimated 470,000 persons entered the Brussels subway network at the last edition of car-free Sunday, held on 22 September, according to the Brussels regional transport utility, STIB.

This was 5% more than in 2018 and 73% higher than the usual commuter traffic on Sundays, Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van Den Brandt, from the Groen (Green) party, said recently in answer to a query from fellow parliamentarian David Weytsman (Mouvement Reformateur, MR).

Weytsman had requested figures on the frequentation of the entire STIB network and had asked how much such an operation cost the public transport utility.

Minister Van Den Brandt responded that since access to the network was free of charge and travellers did not need to validate their travel tickets in its vehicles, the STIB did not have exact figures on the number of persons using surface transport.

STIB estimated its lost income on that day at about 130,000 euros, based on its usual earnings on a normal September Sunday.

The Brussels Times


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