Municipalities require cheap tickets that are valid indefinitely

Berlin After the expiry of the 9-euro monthly ticket for local public transport (ÖPNV), which is limited to three months, the Association of Towns and Municipalities is demanding a nationwide cheap public transport ticket with unlimited validity. “We don’t need a short public transport summer, but a nationwide public transport country,” said General Manager Gerd Landsberg of the Handelsblatt. “That’s why we have to think about following up with a nationwide, uniform and discounted ticket.”

The 9-euro-per-month discount campaign for buses and trains started on Wednesday. Many transport companies spoke of a smooth start. The Pentecost weekend will certainly be a challenge, said a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn. Despite special trains, passenger representatives believe that sometimes chaotic conditions are possible.

The special ticket is available for the months of June, July and August and is valid nationwide on local transport. This should relieve commuters financially and convince more people to permanently switch from cars to trains.

Municipal chief Landsberg wants to turn it into a kind of permanent facility. He did not want to commit himself to the price because of the financing. The federal and state governments should agree on this question against the background of the experience with the 9-euro ticket, he said.

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“After the 9-euro ticket, public transport urgently needs a solid financial basis, because a permanently favorable tariff structure must under no circumstances lead to cuts in offers.” and also to significantly improve tariff offers.

Consumer advocates are calling for price increases for buses and trains

The interim head of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (VZBV), Jutta Gurkmann, made a similar statement. “Constantly low ticket prices are important in order to strengthen public transport and retain passengers in the long term,” Gurkmann told the Handelsblatt. “The federal government should therefore decide on a price moratorium for buses and trains and invest in customer-friendly public transport and attractive offers.” Moratorium means a postponement.

Gurkmann suggested “beneficiary financing” as an additional financing option. This would mean involving employers, retailers or private individuals whose real estate increases in value, for example through good public transport connections, in the financing.

>> Also read here: Missing rails, high price jumps: why the railway industry is afraid of its existence

But things are not that simple. Local transport is a matter for the federal states and thus for the municipalities. It is mostly municipal transport companies that, as subsidiaries of the local public utility company, ensure that the residents can be mobile with buses. Locally, the companies also set the tariffs in consultation with the municipalities.

The federal government co-finances some things, such as the purchase of new vehicles such as electric buses, through funding programs or particularly expensive projects such as subways and trams through the Municipal Transport Financing Act. There is so much different financing from the federal, state and local governments that experts have long been talking about “spaghetti financing” – because the money comes from many different sources, so that nobody feels originally responsible.

“We want to show how attractive local transport is,” said the chairwoman of the conference of transport ministers, Maike Schaefer (Greens) from Bremen. And she immediately made it clear to the federal government: “The evaluation of the 9-euro ticket will show that we have to invest more in local transport.”

The federal and state governments are working on a “mobility pact”

Also, no one should “gamble away” the newly emerging trust in local transport. This happens when the countries then have to raise prices back to the old level and possibly even have to increase them. “If prices continue to rise, we will lose customers,” warned the Association of German Transport Companies. Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), meanwhile, made it clear that there would only be more money with structural reforms.

A federal-state working group in Berlin is currently advising on this. A sub-working group is debating the financing and whether the current financing jungle needs to be cleared. North Rhine-Westphalia coordinates here, where Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) already had a clear opinion as Minister of Transport: The federal government is therefore responsible for adequate financing of local transport. Wüst relies on the distribution of tasks in the Basic Law. But there it is only about rail transport, which the federal government points out.

>> Also read here: Train instead of plane: Where the night train in Germany is an alternative

The result should be a “mobility pact”. There is already talk that there could be a 365-euro annual ticket for local transport nationwide in the future, provided that many people switch to local transport because of the 9-euro ticket and are willing to do so permanently.

From the point of view of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), financing such a ticket would be a particular challenge for German cities. The VDV calculates that annual fare revenue of 13 billion euros would then be lost throughout Germany.

During the federal election campaign, the SPD campaigned for models such as the 365-euro ticket. The topic no longer appears in the traffic light coalition agreement. It is clear, however, “that we need more money in public transport in the long term,” said SPD traffic expert Dorothee Martin. In many regions, the offer is “unfortunately insufficient”.

>> Also read here: These tricks are the best way to use the monthly ticket

At the same time, the costs also increased for the transport companies. “In this respect, it will be a challenge to maintain existing connections and tariffs,” said Martin.

Economics Veronika Grimm doesn’t think much of a cheap ticket for everyone. “It would be conceivable, for example, to make young people an extremely cheap offer,” said the economist, who also advises the federal government, to the Handelsblatt.

They got used to using public transport systems, which would then also become more attractive as they expanded. “With an offer for everyone, including those who are able to pay, you only reduce the financial leeway without having any major effects.”

More: “We’re pissed off because nothing works”: The German rail network is on the verge of collapse

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