9-euro ticket as traffic relief?

Few people switch from cars to buses and trains

Created: 08/08/2022, 12:18 p.m

By: Victoria Krumbeck

The 9-euro ticket should persuade consumers to leave their car behind and use local public transport.

However, traffic is increasing.

Berlin/Munich – Full and late trains have become the norm since the introduction of the 9-euro ticket.

With luck you will find a seat, it is hardly possible to take a bicycle with you.

The 9-euro ticket should offer relief for citizens.

In reality, however, things look different.

What Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) celebrates as a "great success" revealed the poor state in which Deutsche Bahn is.

Initial scientific findings show that the ticket brings hardly any traffic relief. 

9-euro ticket leads to more traffic and less climate protection

"In fact, the data is still very thin," said the public transport project manager of the Agora Verkehrswende interest group, Philipp Kosok, of the dpa.

A lot of data has to be treated with caution.

“What is available, however, is very alarming data.

It indicates that the 9-euro ticket generates more traffic and, above all, hardly shifts it,” says Kosok.

This means that the 9-euro ticket could have a negative impact on climate protection.

The nationwide market research conducted by the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and Deutsche Bahn AG in July provided initial trend statements.

The ticket is extremely well known and popular.

Almost 98 percent of those surveyed know the 9-euro ticket and two-thirds even know it well.

Projections showed that at least 30 million people were ticketed in June.

Including the existing public transport subscriptions.

Do you use the 9 euro ticket?

 "The ticket leads to a higher use of public transport, but above all selectively on certain routes - even to the extent that traffic collapses there," explained Christian Böttger, rail expert at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences (HTW). the dpa.

Passengers and employees in the buses and trains feel the high demand.

An evaluation of mobile phone data by the Federal Statistical Office showed that in June 2022 the nationwide movements in rail traffic were on average 42 percent higher than in June 2019.

9 euro ticket does not reduce traffic

The VDV determined that one fifth of buyers had not used public transport before purchasing the ticket.

That's the problem.

Without the ticket, many journeys would not have happened in the first place.

The volume of traffic was not reduced as a result.

Only a few car trips were replaced and additional trips were made.

"From the previous studies, only a slight shifting effect from the road to public transport of at best two to three percent can be seen," said HTW researcher Böttger of the dpa.

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Traffic jam on the highway.

The 9-euro ticket apparently causes a higher volume of traffic (symbol image).

© Jochen Eckel/IMAGO

A study from the greater Munich area supports the result.

It turned out that 35 percent of the test persons traveled more frequently by bus and train - but only three percent used their own vehicle less often.

The researchers also noticed a certain dampening effect on traffic in Munich.

Instead of rising slightly in June - as usual - it fell by three percent.

The Munich study examined an area with a relatively dense public transport service.

The University of Kassel showed that this can make a big difference.

The bigger the cities were, the more often people bought tickets there.

High investments are necessary for a long-term traffic turnaround

Many people can also imagine higher prices for a follow-up offer, as researchers at the TU Dresden found out.

Most people named values ​​between 60 and 90 euros.

The following offer is currently still being debated.

Other factors are decisive for a long-term successful turnaround in transport.

"If we really want stable growth in public transport, then above all we have to expand capacities accordingly," said HTW expert Böttger.

“What we have seen is that the system is really at its limit.” Böttger assumes that there will be an investment backlog of around 150 billion euros in new construction and expansion for rail traffic alone.