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Frankfurt am Main train station: Most Germans would like a successor to the 9-euro ticket
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
The 9-euro ticket is still valid for a few weeks – and how it should continue after that is controversial.
Green politicians are now proposing a successor model: 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 that SPIEGEL has.
The ARD capital studio had previously reported.
"At a time when almost 80 percent of people in the country want a solution to replace the 9-euro ticket, it's high time to actually start talking about it," the paper says.
The Greens are proposing a connection solution that is both realistic because it can be financed and remains so cheap that it gives real incentives to switch to bus and train.
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.
Like the latter, the proposed tickets should only apply to local and regional transport.
Financing through the company car privilege
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.
"Instead of a concession that primarily benefits high earners, we are enabling a transport policy measure with a broad impact that also provides an effective incentive for climate protection." But they are also ready to talk about other financing options.
According to a report in the Handelsblatt, FDP Transport Minister Wissing is now also open to a successor model to the popular ticket.
"It is now up to the coalition to decide whether the nine-euro ticket can be continued in a modified form," said a spokesman for the newspaper.
According to the spokesman, a condition for a short-term extension will be “the willingness of the federal states to participate substantially in the financing of such.” Initially, the FDP was critical of continuing the ticket.
Halfway through the offer in July, Wissing was open to a successor model.
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.
Recently, the demand for local public transport has increased, which is also due to the 9-euro ticket: according to an evaluation, 46 percent more people used local rail transport from April to June than in the first quarter.
Read more about this here.
ani/dpa
