In the past there has always been criticism that the federal states are misusing the funds for local transport.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The Federal Court of Auditors is calling on the federal government to introduce a public transport law in order to make the various financing streams for local public transport transparent and to encourage the federal states to take on more responsibility. Kay Scheller, President of the Federal Audit Office, criticized: “Although public transport is the responsibility of the federal states, the federal government finances it annually with a two-digit billion amount”.
The auditors have analyzed the financing options for local transport in a report. According to this, the federal states received 11.6 billion euros from the federal government in 2021 alone through the laws for regionalization, municipal transport financing and the expansion of railways. There are also tax breaks (1.1 billion), corona aid (1 billion) and “a large number of funding programs and pilot projects”, as the auditors attest.
The frightening message: the federal government has long since lost “the indispensable overview”. Different ministries financed local transport, promoted vehicle fleets or tariff models and more.
For example, it is impossible to adequately control the goals for more traffic “as well as for climate protection and to adapt measures if necessary”. The programs are not coordinated. “The economic use of federal funds is not guaranteed.”
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In the past there has also been repeated criticism that the federal states are misusing the funds for local transport. The auditors criticize that the countries save the funds and would not spend them immediately. You yourself would invest far less in local transport than the federal government. In 2021, the federal states would only have admitted 2.7 billion euros to the regionalization funds of more than eight billion euros.
The federal states see the federal government as responsible for financing public transport
The countries have a different attitude. The current Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU), already emphasized in the office of Minister of Transport that the federal government is responsible for financing local transport.
Accordingly, last summer the state transport ministers used a report by Roland Berger on behalf of the Association of German Transport Companies to demand a further 67 billion euros by 2030 alone. This was intended to modernize and expand local transport in order to be able to make the expected contribution to climate protection.
Wüst had made it clear: “We need this money, it is not a prelude to negotiations”. The transport ministers agreed on this “across all parties”. The impression is wrongly given that federal funding is “a voluntary service that can be negotiated at the bazaar. It is not so.”
The demand caused astonishment in the new traffic light coalition. For example, the countries were only willing to share in the damage to transport companies caused by the pandemic after fierce resistance. The auditors therefore reject further money and call for a reform of the financing.
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The motto: “A lot helps a lot” is not suitable for achieving the goals in local transport, the examiners summed up. “We recommend cleaning up the financing instruments: reducing mixed financing and replacing the previous jungle of subsidies with a uniform public transport law,” said Federal Audit Office President Scheller. In this way, the federal government turns from a source of money into a source of inspiration. The federal government also receives information rights with the law, is no longer “blind” and can “finance as needed”.
According to the auditors, the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport has largely agreed to the criticism and wants to “examine the proposals in detail”.
The coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP, on the other hand, has already agreed in its coalition agreement to provide far more money than before for local transport. The parties agreed on an expansion and modernization pact. At this meeting, the federal, state and local governments should “agree, among other things, on financing up to 2030, including the own shares of the states and local authorities and the distribution of federal funds, and discuss tariff structures,” according to the coalition agreement. The aim is to “significantly increase” the number of passengers transported.
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