Nine-euro ticket in local transport: users cheer, transport companies fear

The nine-euro ticket for local transport is intended to relieve the burden on citizens in the face of rising energy prices. Public transport users think it’s a good idea, but the transport companies are taken by surprise – and the federal states are worried about the costs.

Inexpensive, environmentally friendly, attractive: the nine-euro ticket planned by the government should give nationwide local transport a good boost. At least that’s what Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing is hoping for. He wants to relieve the citizens with the cheap public transport ticket in view of the sharp rise in energy costs.

According to Wissing, the ticket should also provide incentives to save energy and make the use of public transport more attractive in the long term. This means that in addition to reducing the burden, people are also counting on people switching from cars to buses and trains. The spontaneously introduced ticket is intended to change something in the long term. But can it actually keep what it promises in the long term?

Public transport use for nine euros per month

The so-called 9 for 90 ticket or nine euro ticket is to be introduced on June 1, 2022. Passengers can use public transport for three months for nine euros each. The ticket should be available at counters and machines, as well as an online platform for digital booking.

Customers who already have existing subscriptions will be compensated for the difference in the following months. A solution for semester or job tickets is also being worked on. The ticket should be valid throughout Germany on buses and trains in local and regional transport. Excluded are long-distance traffic, as well as Flix buses and trains.

Rapid relief for citizens

A single ticket for bus and train in the Mainz city area, for example, costs three euros. From Mainz to Frankfurt it is almost nine euros. Public transport can be expensive. That’s why many are already looking forward to the nine-euro ticket.

“I think it’s great. I hope it comes. I think it’s the right idea, because it’s been said for years that public transport has to be cheaper,” says Alexandra Reinbrecht. “Too bad it’s an energy crisis that’s causing this.” The young professional no longer has a semester ticket and is happy about the inexpensive alternative, precisely because she does not have a car.

Mamdouh Saeed is also enthusiastic about the ticket: “My monthly ticket costs 90 euros, I take the tram to work every day. It will be a great financial relief for me,” he says in front of Mainz Central Station.

Transport companies were taken by surprise

The Mainzer Verkehrsbetriebe would have wished that the ticket had been announced a little earlier. They are now working on the implementation here, even if there is a certain residual uncertainty as to whether the ticket will actually be introduced. The final decision will be made in the Federal Council on May 20, when the financing will be voted on.

However, a “point of no return” has already been reached, because the new offer must be installed in all transport associations. In Mainz, advance sales should start on May 23 if the Federal Council decides positively. Here one hopes that the financing will run just as smoothly as with the rescue package during the corona pandemic.

2.5 billion euros loss feared

The forecasts of the federal states and transport associations assume a loss of 2.5 billion euros due to reduced ticket revenue. These should be fully borne by the federal government. “The federal government covers the full cost of the ‘9 for 90 ticket’,” says Wissing. In addition, the countries could collect the nine euros. In other words: The federal government pays all public transport costs for three months and also gives the federal states the nine euros per ticket sold.

But the industry association VDV warns that the 2.5 billion are only a forecast. “If many more passengers arrive than forecast and the loss of revenue is then, for example, 2.75 billion, then these additional funds must also be compensated,” says Lars Wagner from the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV).

VDV fears restrictions due to the energy crisis

However, the greatest uncertainty among transport companies is currently in terms of energy costs. It’s not just consumers who are suffering from the sharp increase in fuel and heating costs caused by the war in Ukraine, but also public transport. The VDV sees major immediate liquidity problems for the companies here, because this money is already missing from the coffers of the companies.

These are not driven for profit but for the common good, are therefore co-financed by public funds and often have no buffer for interim financing. “Especially for smaller companies, the increasing energy costs are having a huge impact and in the end it’s a question of whether they can still keep up the business or not? Because they can no longer afford diesel,” says Wagner. In the worst case, this means that the bus and train services would have to be restricted in the middle of the main phase of the nine-euro ticket.

Countries bear the financial risk

In the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, too, there are great fears that Rhineland-Palatinate will incur costs that cannot be borne, writes the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility on request. The federal government has no obligation to make additional payments if the lump sum is exceeded.

The states therefore bear the risk of a promise by the federal government. In addition, the increased construction, energy and personnel costs must be covered. A surcharge of 1.5 billion euros is needed, because it must be avoided at all costs that local transport tariffs have to be raised after the discount campaign, according to the ministry.

“A sign of good will, but nothing more”

Of course, the transport associations hope that some new customers will stay with the bus and train even after the three cheap months, but model tests show that it is more a good range of routes and good connections that attract new users to public transport and less so the price of the tickets.

The mobility researcher Andreas Knie from the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) does not see the nine-euro ticket as very promising. “It’s a good signal to deal with public transport and to offer relief. But that’s where it ends. The actual form is not good. It’s a sign of good will, but nothing more,” says Knie.

He would have wished that the whole thing had been approached more strategically: winning back those lost to Corona and including long-distance transport. “Because those who are willing to change are more likely to be in long-distance transport. Here we get a lot more people from the road to the rails. Three months are far too short for drivers.”

The car has always been preferred in recent decades. As a result, local public transport has not been culturally consolidated. “It’s falling on our feet with karacho, and it can’t be done that quickly either.” Knie also emphasizes that network expansion is crucial. “The price is not the only decisive factor, but the lack of flexibility. I need a flexible and thoroughly digitized offer.”

Large field test – outcome uncertain

The nine-euro ticket raises hopes of relief and of making public transport a little more popular. However, it is not to be expected that the transport companies will increase their fleet for three months. And with overcrowded buses in times of the pandemic, drivers are unlikely to be persuaded to change permanently.