Abstract
Free public transport has been introduced in many urban areas around the world. Passengers’ decision-making behaviour is influenced by many different factors. In this article, we examine the extent to which sociodemographic characteristics such as age, social status, and education may be relevant to the acceptance and even preference for free public transport. For the purposes of this study, an original survey questionnaire was developed to collect residents’ opinions on the introduction of free public transport. The questionnaire contained 11 questions, including four on anonymous sociodemographic factors. The collected data was subjected to quantitative and descriptive analysis. The results show that older people are more likely to prefer free transport for city residents. However, professionally active people and pensioners were more likely to see the positive effects of free public transport, such as improved service quality, reduced emissions, and noise reduction. The unemployed, students, and the self-employed were more likely to be sceptical about these effects. Furthermore, people with basic education were slightly less likely to recognize the innovative potential of free transport.