Dunkirk Free Buses (DK'BUS) — Fare-Free Network Redesign With +65% Weekday Ridership in Eight Months

In September 2018 the Urban Community of Dunkirk made its bus network free for all, combined with a redesign: five express lines every ten minutes, about a dozen further lines for lower-density areas, new vehicles, and roughly €65 million invested in corridors and more than 100 smaller interventions. Before the reform ticket sales covered only about 10% of system funding.
An evaluation reported by the EU Urban Mobility Observatory, using automatic passenger counters and a survey of 2,000 users, found eight months after launch that bus use had risen 65% on weekdays and 125% at weekends. Nearly 50% of users who increased their use said some trips previously went by car, and 10% of them no longer own a car or chose not to buy a second one. Almost 40% cited improved efficiency and reliability as a reason for riding more. Walking rose 20% among car-to-bus switchers.
Local reporting (Delano) gives a full-year figure of +85% network use between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019, with fare-free operation adding about €13.5 million a year (€4.5 million lost ticket receipts plus added service costs), partly financed by the local employer transport levy.
Caveats: the gains are tied to a major service improvement, so fare removal alone does not explain them; figures differ by source and period, and the early evaluation is short-run. Dunkirk is nonetheless among the best-documented cases of fare-free transport paired with service upgrades, and contrasts with Tallinn's much smaller measured effect.

Read the full analysis: https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/free-bus-services-as-public-goods-lessons-from-the-dunkirk-experiment