Crowded platforms and buses, much emptier streets in inner cities: With the nine-euro ticket, a political lightning campaign this summer has become a model for success. What the traffic light coalition surprisingly decided in March has caused large numbers of Germans to switch from cars to local public transport since June. Because it has been cheap and easy to use nationwide ever since.
The result is a probably unique opportunity to get parts of the car nation enthusiastic about climate-friendly local transport in the long term. Fuel prices will probably remain high for months. The nine-euro ticket has allayed the fears of many Germans who haven’t traveled by bus or train for a long time. But Transport Minister Volker Wissing and his country colleagues are in the process of frivolously squandering this opportunity.
The end of the largest discount campaign in public transport in decades is near. At the end of August, driving pleasure in the regional network will be over. It has also been clear since Tuesday that there will be no quick successor solution. The federal government does not want to discuss this until the end of the year. Above all, there is a lack of political will in Wissing to permanently invest significantly more money in local transport.
Passengers will soon feel the consequences. Because federal aid has not actually been promised so far, there is a risk of significantly higher ticket prices than before the nine-euro ticket from September due to the sharp increase in energy costs. The price jump would literally torpedo the federal government’s plan to double the number of passengers in local transport in a few years.
It would not even take additional billions for a more climate-friendly and social transport policy. It would be feasible if the traffic light government overturned anti-climate subsidies such as the company car privilege or the diesel tax subsidy. However, this government has so far lacked the courage for a real turnaround in transport.