Free public transport has been in the news a lot this Autumn, with extensions or possible expansions confirmed in three areas: the Balearic islands, Iowa City, and Brazil.

Free public transport for residents will continue in Majorca until at least 2026, according to Euro Weekly News. The article outlines that Majorca, one of the Balearic islands, has had free public transport since 2022. The local government on the islands says that the amount allocated to them by the Government, €63 million, is not nearly enough to keep running the public transport for free, and they are asking for more money from the government, closer to €150 million. According to the academic terminology, residents-only free public transport is called “targetted free public transport” and is a form of “partial free public transport”.

Buses have been free in Iowa City, on an extremely successful 2-year pilot since August 2023, as this article in the New York Times says. The pilot programme has now been extended for another year, until August 2026, as the city estimates that people have driven “1.8 million fewer miles” since the pilot began. The programme was combined with an increase in buses and rationalisation of some routes. The NYT article contains lots of positive details, such as the reported improvement in working conditions for bus drivers, and the importance of making buses “convenient and appealing,” as well as free, as “We have 70-some years of marketing telling everyone that personal vehicles are great, and the ticket to freedom. Bus ridership doesn’t have that same kind of P.R. arm around it.”

In Brazil, which has been leading the free public transport implementation for a few years now (with it implemented in 120+ cities), the president Lula de Silva has commissioned studies on how nationwide free public transport could be introduced. The finance minister is quoted in this article in FT Infra as saying “(Lula) knows this issue is important for workers, the environment, and urban mobility”, but won’t introduce it in 2026 or 2027. It’s clear that UK politicians have a lot of catching up to do.

Published 15th December 2025.