In October this year, one of our organising group had the chance to experience free public transport in Belgrade, Serbia. This article explains what it was like. Thanks to our hosts, Ulice Za Bicikliste (Streets for Cyclists), for being gracious hosts at their conference.

First, a bit of background. Public transport in Belgrade has been free since 1^st January 2025, in a decision by the controversial, right-wing mayor Aleksandar Šapić.  He is from the ruling party in Serbia, who have been in a major legitimacy crisis since 1^st November 2024. In the opinion of some of our hosts, the sudden announcement of free public transport is a last-ditch attempt to reclaim some popularity amongst people in the capital.

Belgrade has approximately 1.2 million residents, which for reference is a bit bigger than Liverpool but smaller than Manchester. Old Belgrade, on the south side of the Danube river, contains the old town and city centre; while New Belgrade, built post-war on reclaimed land on the north side of the Danube, is predominantly housing. 40-50% of the trips made in Belgrade are made by public transport, and this number is falling. There is no metro service, and the fleets of buses, with some trams and trolleybuses, vary in age. Some routes are high frequency (5 or more buses per hour) and some are less frequent or less reliable, and becoming less reliable as the number of car trips is increasing.

There is a history of non-payment of public transport tickets, in response to the widespread cost of living crisis in the 1990s, with a general social acceptance of non-payment. Throughout the 2000s – 2020s, there were varying levels of non-payment, with estimates reaching up to 50% of trips not paid for, in the context of increasing privatisation of the bus services and various ticket price rises.

In January 2025, the Mayor introduced free public transport in Belgrade. As the policy was introduced so quickly, the city hasn’t released any polling about the impact on residents, or the level of mode shift (people who used to travel by car, walking or bike modes of transport, shifting their journey to public transport). It’s also not clear whether the policy will be continued into 2026.

But what is it actually like to experience free public transport? It’s great! There is no registration for the free bus service, so for visitors it’s very easy – I just hopped on one of the buses that goes from the airport into town. There was no awkward interaction with the driver using my five words of Serbian, and no need to get money (Serbian Dinars) out at the airport. The bus was standing room only as we entered the centre of town, and other buses we got on throughout the rest of the weekend were less busy. The bus network coverage was great for our sightseeing in the old town, but for people who live further out of town, the bus route network is less dense and the buses less frequent.

It was quicker to get across town, because if the first bus wasn’t the one we wanted, we just got on another bus to go some of the way, then change at a stop with more options. We also noticed that the buses were moving quite fast along their routes. The buses spent a shorter amount of time at each stop, and were able to get on their way quicker. The amount of time at the bus stop is known as ‘dwell time’. Experience from New York City’s free bus trial (by Zohran Mamdani) showed that the dwell time per passenger decreased, although due to the increase in boarding passengers, total dwell time increased. There seems like a simple solution to this: more frequent buses!

There are many other cities in Europe where payment of fares is not checked upon entry to the vehicle, only if an inspector boards, and non-payment is more common. On the ground, the Belgrade arrangement is exactly the same, as the driver isn’t the person who sells or checks tickets. However, to ride the bus without the threat of a ticket inspector boarding was relaxing and stress-free. Our hosts told us that it used to be the case that, when a ticket inspector boarded the bus, half a dozen people exited through the other door. In this way, a policy of free public transport is making legal something that people were doing anyway, and enabling the poorest residents a free and uninterrupted journey.

In sum, with free public transport, the experience of riding the bus was simpler for tourists and visitors, made journeys quicker, and made journeys cheaper and more relaxing for the poorest passengers.

When it comes to funding, this is the main critique from our hosts. The free fares were not accompanied by an increase in investment into the public transport network, so the gaps in the service that may be preventing people from using public transport remain.  In the previous arrangement, employers were obliged to provide public transport season tickets to their employees. This effectively used private companies’ wealth to fund the public transport operator/s (a public-private partnership as of 2012). However, since tickets were made free, there has not been a commensurate tax on employers, so that wealth capture has been lost. The proportion of the city’s budget spent on public transport is up to 30%, and under threat of budget cuts by the pro-driving Mayor. Our hosts suggested a city-wide mobility tax on employers with over 10 employees, which is the funding model in France, would enable the continuation of free public transport and some improvements in the service.

Overall, if free public transport works well in a European city the size of Liverpool, it should work well in many cities across the UK, including London.

Published: 14th December 2025.