Traffic
Wissing calls on countries to carry out structural reforms in local transport
A ticket machine can be seen in a bus of the Munich Transport Company (MVG). Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Is the 9-euro ticket for local public transport just an advertising campaign that quickly fizzles out? Transport Minister Wissing considers a structural reform to be essential for a permanently attractive offer.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing has called on the federal states to carry out structural reforms in local public transport.
The FDP politician said on Deutschlandfunk on Friday: “It’s not that easy to say that if you spend more money, everything will be better. Everyone knows that from everyday life. Sometimes you also have to advance structural reforms.” Wissing mentioned digital ticket offers.
The federal states want the federal government to significantly increase regionalization funds in the long term – this is money that the federal government makes available to the federal states every year to finance local rail passenger transport. Wissing said that the federal government already pays more than 10 billion euros a year for local public transport, although the federal states are responsible for this. It had been agreed that the regionalization funds would increase continuously. Now there are further demands. A working group should present a result on structural reforms by the autumn conference of the transport ministers of the federal states. “I’m very excited about that,” said Wissing.
overlooked diversity?
Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) said: “The federal government is taking the third step before the first and ignoring the diversity of the entire German mobility landscape. Of course we need cheap tickets. And we certainly need a functioning offer for this. In Bavaria we are currently working on many mobility construction sites: on the state tariff, on the expansion of the network or on new digital tariff systems.» The federal government’s “bargain advertising campaign” will postpone many things. “The 9 for 90 ticket is and remains an ill-considered gift.”
Wissing, on the other hand, called on the states and municipalities to launch a campaign for the planned 9-euro monthly ticket. The cheap ticket is a huge opportunity. “The incentive to switch is to save energy, to be able to get in for a low price,” said Wissing. “We have been discussing for years whether the price is too high. Now we’re going to try it and see if a lower price leads to a switch.”
From the beginning of June to the end of August, passengers should be able to travel nationwide for 9 euros per month in local and regional transport. The federal government has promised to reimburse the federal states for lost revenue of 2.5 billion euros. In addition, there are 1.2 billion euros for another pandemic-related rescue package. The other half of this is taken over by the federal states. However, the federal states are demanding more money, for example to compensate for increased energy prices, which the federal government rejects.