Public transport in Hasselt

The city of Hasselt in Limburg, Belgium is one of a small and growing number of cities around the world providing zero-fare public transport. The transport network here is mainly by bus.

Bus

All buses leave from the station. The town lines (called "H-lijn") have been free for everyone including tourists since Tuesday 1 July 1997. Other bus lines are free for the inhabitants of Hasselt while travelling in the territory of Hasselt.

The free local service

The local "H-lijn" buses on the town lines carry an "H" on their number on the electronic destination sign above the windshield.

All "H-lijn" town bus services commence at 0600 in the morning up to 1900 at night. They have a maximum interval of 30 minutes. On a number of lines (H2 and H3) there are extra services during the peak hours (of 0700-0900 and 1600-1800). The BP boulevard shuttle has an interval of five minutes and the CP city centre shuttle runs every 10 minutes.

From 1900 to 2300 reduced evening services operate.

On Saturdays all routes are half-hourly from 0830 to 1900, then evening hours apply.

On Sundays and public holidays the reduced routes H11 and H12 run from 1000 to 1800 (0700-2030 in July and August).

"Nearly all" local buses are wheelchair-accessible.

=list of local routes [http://www.hasselt.be/index.php?lang=en&rO=1 'Bus' page] at "Welcome in virtual Hasselt" (in English on the city's website] =

* BP The "Boulevardpendel" (= 'boulevard shuttle') connects all bus stops along the inner ring road and the station (every 5 minutes)
* CP The "CentrumPendel" (= 'central shuttle') connects the station with the Grote Markt (every 10 minutes)
* H1 and H11 to the suburbs of Kermt and Kuringen, Abbey of Herkenrode, station, Virga Jesse Hospital, Cultural Centre, City Park, Salvator Clinic
* H2 and H12 to Kiewit Park, swimming baths, Kapermolen Park, Japanese Garden, station, Runkst, Sint-Lambrechts-Herk
* H3 to Kiewit, Sint-Jansheide, Stokrooie, Kuringen, station, Japanese Garden, Grensland Halls, Provincial House, Kinepolis, golf course, Godsheide
* H4 to Stevoort, Schimpen, Kuringen, station
* H5 (Singellijn Zuid) follows most of the outer ring road (Grote Ring)
* H7 to the Runkst district, Grote Markt, station
* H8 to the Alverberg sports hall, Grote Markt, station
* H9 to Godsheide Wolske, Maastrichterstraat (bus stop at Borrelmanneke), Kolonel Dusartplein, station

Free local travel on regional routes

The regional transport services , or so-called Red lines, are free for residents of Hasselt, travelling zero-fare where these pass through Hasselt as long as they show their identity card to the driver of the bus. Red regional routes' bus stops are marked with signs indicating the beginning or end of the Hasselt bus network.Non-residents of Hasselt pay the usual area tariff, except for children under 12 who have zero-fare travel. "Blue" regional lines incur a fare in the normal way. On combinations of local and regional services passengers pay the usual area tariff for the complete route. Regional line 45 is free for travel from Hasselt to the university campus in Diepenbeek, for everyone who studies or works there and has a student card, course participant card or staff card of the institutions on the university campus.

Fare control and inspection

Passengers on local H-Lijn buses need absolutely no documents whatsoever. No fraud is possible, since everything is free. The routes are still monitored for quality control purposes.

The red and blue lines are patrolled by inspectors in the normal way.

History of zero-fare transport in Hasselt

The plan for a new, attractive bus network in Hasselt was influenced by Flemish transport minister Eddy Baldewijns, who created an integrated transport policy framework in the middle of 1996 in which public transport was allocated a primary role. The city of Hasselt was one of the first cities to subscribe to the plan. Mayor Steve Stevaert proposed to give absolute primacy on the city's Green Boulevard to public transport. The mobility policy in Hasselt developed into an example of cooperation between the bus line, the Flemish government and the city of Hasselt, under the motto "the city guarantees the right of mobility for everyone".

Results of the zero-fare transport

Following the introduction of the new zero-fare policy, the usage of public transport immediately increased by 800-900% and has remained high, being currently "more than 10-fold" compared to the time of the old policy [C. van Goeverden, P. Rietveld, J. Koelemeijer, P. Peeters: [http://www.istiee.org/te/papers/N32/02%20van%20goeverden%20_5-25_.pdf 'Subsidies in public transport'] "European Transport" 32 (2006): 5-25] [Citation
last = PR Newswire
first =
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = Hasselt Celebrates 10 Years of Free Public Transport
date = 29 Jun 2007
year =
url = http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=201965
accessdate = 2002-02-21] . The city's official website records [http://www.hasselt.be/content/content/record.php?ID=4418 '10 jaar gratis openbaar vervoer'] (in Dutch on the city's official website] passenger growth as follows:

1996: 360 000 passengers (100%)

1997: 1 498 088 passengers 428%

1998: 2 837 975 passengers 810%

1999: 2 840 924 passengers 811%

2000: 3 178 548 passengers 908%

2001: 3 706 638 passengers 1059%

2002: 3 640 270 passengers 1040%

2003: 3 895 886 passengers 1113%

2004: 4 259 008 passengers 1217%

2005: 4 257 408 passengers 1216%

2006: 4 614 844 passengers 1319%

A Belgian website [ [http://www.gva.be/dossiers/-o/opver/hasselt.asp 'Gratis openbaar vervoer'] (= 'Free public transport') (in Dutch)] describes Hasselt identity cards as becoming "like gold in value", because of free bus travel.

Rail

Hasselt railway station is near the city centre, outside the Binnenring. The station is an IC station, which means that there are several connections each day with important Belgian cities.

Light rail

In February 2007 a plan was launched for the construction of a light rail connection between Hasselt and Maastricht to open in 2012.

References

Other sources

*a great deal of information came from [http://www.gva.be/dossiers/-o/opver/hasselt.asp this Belgian transport website] (with help from babel fish)