The 9-euro ticket will end in a few weeks. The Greens are proposing two tariffs as a successor: one for regional associations and one for Germany-wide rail travel. The money for this should come from the dismantling of the company car privilege.
In the debate about a successor to the 9-euro ticket, Green Party politicians are proposing a regional ticket for 29 euros and a nationwide ticket for 49 euros a month. This emerges from a concept paper by party leader Ricarda Lang, faction leader Katharina Dröge and the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Transport Oliver Krischer. “It’s time to seriously negotiate a follow-up solution for the 9-euro ticket,” said Dröge. The two proposed tariffs could help the climate and relieve people at the same time. “With the dismantling of the company car privilege, we are also presenting a convincing financing option,” said Dröge.
The Greens call their proposal a contribution to the debate. They refer to the success of the 9-euro ticket. Initial evaluations suggested that people had actually switched from cars to buses and trains, so there were also positive effects for the climate.
The regional ticket for 29 euros is intended primarily for commuters who use public transport to get to work. It should apply “at least nationwide, but also for regions such as Berlin-Brandenburg or Bremen-Hamburg-Lower Saxony”. In addition, according to the paper, there should be a “49-euro ticket for all of Germany”, which works just as easily as the current 9-euro ticket. The offer of a 49-euro ticket could “completely break through the jungle of tariffs,” advertise the Greens. Dealing with the “often confusing pricing would come to an end for many people”.
For financing, the Greens want to curtail the company car privilege, which companies can use to deduct the costs of company cars from taxes. Above all, CO2 emissions should be taken more into account. “The resulting additional revenue for the federal and state governments could flow seamlessly into the financing of cheap tickets,” says the paper. However, one is also ready to talk about other financing methods.
The transport companies expect a significant need for subsidies: According to the Association of German Transport Companies, even a ticket for 69 euros would mean annual additional costs of two billion euros. The federal government spent 2.5 billion euros on the loss of revenue in the federal states responsible for public transport in the three months of June, July and August, in which the 9-euro ticket is valid.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner recently said that there could be no follow-up regulation for the 9-euro ticket. The responsible Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing, praises the ticket as a success, but recently said that the federal states must see “how they want to finance it”.
