European city aims for phone-free transport

Travellers in the Austrian city of Graz are being asked to use SMS rather than make a voice call

The Austrian city of Graz is asking residents to stop using their mobile phones on public transport.

Mayor Siegfried Nagl has begun a campaign asking people not to disturb passengers with calls while travelling.

There will be no enforcement by the police, but stickers will be posted up reading: 'Please don't use your mobile phone'.

"We have asked people in a polite way to turn off their ring-tone and just use text messaging," Thomas Rajakovics, a spokesman for the mayor, told the International Herald Tribune.

"People have begun to use the phone in a much more polite way. If they do take a call, they tell the caller in a very low voice that they are on a tram and cannot talk and will call back."

A similar scheme, with enforcement, was tried in Stockholm last year, but had to be withdrawn after public protests. It looks as though Graz will face similar problems.

Gerald Grosz, from the far-right Alliance for the Future of Austria, told the BBC that he makes a point of using his mobile on public transport.

"We have other problems in Graz on the public transport system with crime rates, but not with mobile phones or their ring-tones," he said.

"We will fight this ban and take the majority in the city council with other parties and send this ban into history."