Vienna is the “most livable city in the world” and it’s all thanks to its highly efficient public transport network

Vienna was elected for the umpteenth time the “most livable city in the world”, a recognition that owes largely to the quality and efficiency of its public transport system. With a population of around two million inhabitants, the Austrian capital has developed an extremely efficient transport networkso much so that around half of the residents have an annual pass which costs only 365 euros, or 1 euro per day.

This economical subscription was introduced in 2012 and has had a positive impact on both urban mobility and environmental sustainability. Josef Taucher, Vienna city councilor, underlined how this accessibility has contributed to climate protectionfavoring the use of public transport over private cars.

In fact the local government has set itself the ambitious objective of make Vienna a zero-emission city by 2040 and public transport plays a key role in this plan. Every day, public transport in Vienna they cover distances equivalent to five times around the worldincluding buses, trams and subways.

Three out of ten Viennese use public transport regularly

City statistics show that three out of ten Viennese people regularly use public transportwhile more than a third prefer walking. Only a quarter of the inhabitants travel by car, a sign of the success of policies to encourage the use of alternative and sustainable transport. In 2022, they were carried out 792 million trips with Wiener Linienthe company that manages the city’s transportation system, with the subway it carried 352 million passengers and the tram 274 million.

To further improve urban mobility, Vienna has introduced shared services such as bicycles and electric carswhich help cover the “last mile” of travel routes, thus reducing the use of private cars even for short distances.

The city is also working on a major expansion of its public transport network. In particular, Construction of the U5 automatic metro line is underwayscheduled for 2026, e the modernization of the U2 linethe completion of which has been postponed to 2030. These projects aim to handle an increasing number of passengers and further reduce CO2 emissions, making Vienna an example of a sustainable and liveable city.