Post a Comment Print Share on Facebook

The 49-euro ticket is correct – but more is needed for the traffic turnaround

No, there is no decision that a successor model for the 9-euro ticket will be introduced in the next few months.

- 16 reads.

The 49-euro ticket is correct – but more is needed for the traffic turnaround

No, there is no decision that a successor model for the 9-euro ticket will be introduced in the next few months. Because the transport ministers of the federal and state governments only agreed on Thursday what they would like: A digital, nationwide subscription ticket for local public transport (ÖPNV) for a monthly price of 49 euros. This agreement is certainly a step forward.

But that is of little use because there is no agreement on a financing issue that is crucial for the federal states. They are now prepared, just like the federal government, to raise a total of 1.5 billion euros per year to compensate for the loss of income caused by this reduction in the price of most monthly public transport tickets. But the countries demand more.

And they make the whole ticket dependent on that: The federal government should increase the so-called regionalization funds, with which it has to finance the regional rail transport according to the Basic Law. The federal states unanimously consider this increase to be necessary because the energy and personnel costs in public transport have risen drastically. If the federal government no longer pays, they would have to restrict transport services and thin out the offer. Then the 49-euro ticket no longer makes sense.

The federal and state governments are struggling to find a successor to the 9-euro ticket. Above all, there was disagreement on the question of financing. The federal and state transport ministers have now proposed a nationwide local transport ticket for €49 per month.

Source: WORLD

But Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) was not ready or willing to promise the states that increase. So the whole 49-euro ticket depends on further federal-state negotiations at the level of the Prime Ministers' Conference. Ergo: It is the finances, not transport policy considerations, on which the ticket now depends. So much for the decision-making powers of the transport ministers in the federal and state governments.

From a traffic policy point of view, the 49-euro ticket makes sense. Because the price is worth it for most public transport subscribers - albeit often only just - it can become the standard ticket that breaks through the jungle of season and monthly tickets for the nested tariff honeycombs in the transport associations.

And because it is supposed to be valid nationwide, when it is introduced, nobody will have to sweat in front of ticket machines in other cities to think about which tariff zone the respective destination is in, which ticket is required for it and how you should pay for it when the machine spits out the banknotes.

Above all, however, the desired ticket can provide targeted incentives for those public transport companies that have the greatest potential, unlike the overly flat-rate and permanently unaffordable 9-euro ticket. This is rail-based regional transport over slightly longer distances. In order to recognize this, one must draw comparisons to the current tariffs.

This shows that residents of the central areas of large and medium-sized cities would benefit little from a 49-euro ticket. Their subscriptions for the city areas cost around 50 to 60 euros, so they would only be relieved a little and could often only look forward to the nationwide validity for excursions.

But it is completely different for those who live in the suburbs of large cities or in metropolitan regions such as the Rhine-Main area. You currently have to shell out up to 200 euros and more for monthly tickets for longer commuting distances, for example to Frankfurt am Main or Cologne. This is one of the reasons for road collapses in those areas. A €49 ticket would be a strong reason to switch to the train.

This also applies to rural regions, from where regional trains can take you quickly and easily to employers in larger cities. There, too, the monthly tickets for distances of 20 to 40 kilometers are currently horrendously expensive.

But: You only change if public transport is fast. And outside of inner cities it is only on the rails, not on the bus. That means: The 49-euro ticket would be a big plus factor for regional rail traffic. If it runs well, the country's serious traffic problems can be solved.

In addition to attractive prices, this also requires more trains and better routes. In this respect, the federal states are right when they ask the federal government to increase the regionalization funds.

But the 49-euro ticket brings little or nothing in rural regions without a railway. Because there buses are simply too slow for longer distances outside of the cities and towns. Therefore, instead of demanding more money for this area and creating offers without demand, the countries must have the courage to carry out a real public transport reform in the province without railways. Away from buses - apart from school transport - towards publicly organized platforms for on-call buses and shared taxis, neighborhood transport services and a state-controlled system à la Uber and similar providers.

There are already models for this. The federal states must develop these, and then an attractive tariff system must also be developed for this. That still needs time. But you don't have to wait that long to bring a ticket that makes the eminently important local rail transport more attractive.

Avatar
Your Name
Post a Comment
Characters Left:
Your comment has been forwarded to the administrator for approval.×
Warning! Will constitute a criminal offense, illegal, threatening, offensive, insulting and swearing, derogatory, defamatory, vulgar, pornographic, indecent, personality rights, damaging or similar nature in the nature of all kinds of financial content, legal, criminal and administrative responsibility for the content of the sender member / members are belong.