Right from the start, the 9-euro ticket was extremely popular with customers. But should it just remain a flash in the pan? There are more and more advocates for a permanent cheap ticket.
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 managing director Gerd Landsberg of the “Handelsblatt”. “That’s why we have to think about following up with a nationwide, uniform and discounted ticket.”
The federal and state governments should agree on the question of financing against the background of the experience with the 9-euro ticket, said Landsberg. Only with a permanent increase in funds from the federal and state governments would there be scope to allow more buses and trains to run and also to significantly improve tariff offers.
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 to retain passengers in the long term,” said Gurkmann. “The federal government should therefore decide on a price moratorium for buses and trains and invest in customer-friendly public transport and attractive offers.”
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.
