Wiesbaden/Berlin (dpa/lhe) – Hesse’s Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) has asked the federal government to make more money available for local transport. The decision to increase the regionalization funds gives the federal states and transport associations “a little breathing space so that no transport services have to be canceled – but nothing more,” he said on Friday. At the same time, he rejected the accusation that the federal states would “bunker” the funds and spend them for other purposes.
The Federal Council approved the changes to the regionalization law on Friday. According to this, the regionalization funds will increase by one billion euros in 2022. They should also increase by three percent annually from 2023 instead of the previous 1.8 percent. The federal states and transport associations use the funds to order train and bus connections from transport companies.
The federal and state governments had agreed on the increases at the beginning of November. The federal states had made this a condition for co-financing the planned nationwide 49-euro monthly ticket. The countries are aiming for the ticket to start in early April.
