Vienna is the world's most liveable city. Is its public transport network the key to its success?

Public transport is part of what makes Vienna the most liveable city in the world, but what makes mobility so good in the city?

The city has a population of around two million and roughly half of them hold a transport pass, according to Josef Taucher, a Vienna city council member from the Social Democratic Party.

"It is €1 per day, and this has been the case since 2012. And it has a massive impact on climate protection," Taucher told Euronews Next on the sidelines of the European Mobility Expo, highlighting the affordability of the annual pass that costs €365.

The city government committed to making Vienna climate-neutral by 2040 in a roadmap two years ago.

"We drive every day five times around the world with our buses, tramways and metro," he added, referring to the kilometres travelled by the transport system’s buses, trams and trains daily.

According to the city’s statistics, three out of ten people in Vienna use public transport and more than a third of the city’s residents commute by walking, while just a quarter are using cars to travel.

Out of the 792 million passengers on the Wiener Linien (Viennese Lines) in 2022, 352 million journeys were done on the underground and 274 million on trams.

A recent survey also showed a 91 per cent satisfaction rate regarding public transport, putting Vienna in the first place on the podium out of 83 cities in Europe. 

Shared services for the ‘last mile’

"We added a few years ago, shared services such as shared bikes and shared electric cars to have an answer for the last and the first mile. You have to avoid people using their private cars even for a few metres because once they are in the car, they stay in the car," said

Alexandra Reinagl, the CEO of Wiener Linien (Viennese Lines), the company running the transport system.

The last mile refers to the final leg of a user’s journey when there are fewer options for public transport.

It can be an obstacle to getting people to stop using their individual car if they have concerns about their comfort or safety.

"The users must have a reliable system. So if you don't own a car, there must be another system which brings you from A to B," she added.

Expansion planned for the future

The city is working on expanding the public transport network.

"We are renewing our system because we have an ageing infrastructure since we run tramways since the beginning of the 20th century," she said. 

A brand new automatic metro line, the U5, as well as the modernisation of the U2 line, were originally planned for 2026 and 2028 respectively. 

However, the U2 project has been delayed to 2030, according to Railway Gazette. 

This extension is planned to manage 300 million additional passengers and save up to 75,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

"We can use this as a chance to transform entire streets into new recreation areas where people not only want to move but also want to stay there. And this is what brings a really good quality to a city," Reinagl said.