Austrian mayor bans phones

2008-04-16 16:38

Vienna - The Austrian city Graz on Wednesday issued a ban on mobile phone use on public transport.

Graz's decision, which is highly controversial in Austria, makes the community the first worldwide to issue such a ban, Austrian media said.

Annoyed over the constant buzz and passengers sharing their life secrets on buses and trams in the southern Austrian town, conservative Mayor Siegfried Nagel issued a regulation demanding mobile phones be switched to "silent".

The regulation also banned loud music.

There would however be no fines for offenders refusing to turn down their favourite ringtones when getting on a bus in the town of 250 000 inhabitants, capital of the province Styria.

While the ban was welcomed by Austria's Green Party and some other city administrations, experts warned that the ban could be counterproductive, discouraging young people and businesspeople from using public transport.

The country's social democrats slammed the ban as "anachronistic".

Passengers on public transport should rather be reminded of their manners instead of issuing bans, the public transport authority in the capital Vienna said.

Several other Austrian cities are considering similar measures. According to an opinion poll by Kleine Zeitung, a regional paper in Styria, 68% of the Graz population welcomed the idea. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA