Surging fuel prices are prompting more Vienna residents to leave their cars at home and take the train instead, a shift they say supports the broader goal of encouraging people back onto public transport by driving less.
Across Europe, soaring fuel costs are reshaping travel habits and pushing governments to find ways to keep mobility affordable, from cutting public transport fares to lowering fuel taxes.
Lithuania has temporarily cut train fares in half, Germany has scrapped planned ticket price increases, and Austria is offering a risk-free, two-month trial of its nationwide annual transport pass.
"We want to give people an opportunity to try out the public transport system in Austria and experience the benefits firsthand," said Sarah Batke with One Mobility Group, a global automotive engineering and manufacturing company.
Experts warn that cheaper fuel or temporary fare cuts may only provide short-term relief. Building stronger public transport networks, they say, is a more sustainable solution, though in many rural areas cars remain the only practical option.
"People are still in very, very many cases dependent on their cars and need to be able to afford using their cars. But what this crisis shows us: it's not the first one, it will not be the last one. We really need to find ways in between crises to build up our structural way to get people out of usual oil-dependent transport," said Klara Schenk, policy officer of VCÖ, a public-benefit organization specializing in mobility and transport.
Expanding rail lines and upgrading transport systems often costs far more than temporary fuel tax cuts. Consumers are hoping governments can find lasting solutions to keep mobility both accessible and affordable.
Vienna residents turn to public transport as fuel prices soar
Vienna residents turn to public transport as fuel prices soar
The newly-established World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) marks a major milestone in AI development and a significant step toward global AI governance, international delegates said on Friday.
Twenty-nine countries on Thursday signed an agreement in Shanghai on establishing WAICO, an independent intergovernmental international organization headquartered in Shanghai.
The organization aims to promote international cooperation and global governance on AI, ensuring that AI is beneficial, safe and fair, thereby promoting its healthy and orderly development to benefit all humanity.
"I think this organization reinforces the need for multilateral cooperation. So you have 29 countries that have come together. I think yesterday's developments underline the importance of the capacity-building that countries around the world are facing an AI divide. There are some countries that do not have the talent, the datasets, the computer infrastructure, the access to the right models, and therefore efforts such as these can help bridge the AI divide," said UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies Amandeep Singh Gill.
Alaa Abdulaal, chief of Digital Economy Intelligence at the Digital Cooperation Organization, also hailed the launch, saying that cooperation is vital to ensure that no country is structurally excluded from the evolving digital landscape.
"Any initiative that is targeted for opening dialogues and innovation and conversation between countries to make sure that everyone is participating in the digital economy is a huge milestone. Whenever we have cooperation, whenever we have different countries, different representation, making sure that no one is left outside AI, it is a huge achievement, definitely," said Abdulaal.
World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization marks milestone in AI development: int'l delegates
