Germany has finally set its follow-on to last summer’s €9-a-month all-you-can-ride ticket, with a new €49-a-month ticket set to debut on January 1st, after a few financing wrinkles are worked out.
The new ticket is meant both as an anti-inflation measure and a tool to reduce pollution by getting more passengers out of cars and into buses and trains. Like the €9 pass, the new ticket will be valid nationwide for both local and regional transit, but not for long-distance trains.
Germany’s national and state transport ministers worked out the deal which includes €1.5 billion in federal subsidies matched by a similar amount from the states. The remaining wrinkles involve extra support for regional transit authorities, with the states pointing out that additional passengers means additional costs and also some expanded services.
The program will be reviewed at the end of a two-year run, and will only be available as a paperless monthly subscription. Since subscriptions can be started or canceled at any time, the ticket is still a good value for visitors who only need it for a month. With local transit fares averaging around €2.50-€3 for single tickets and regional services even higher, it wouldn’t take long to pay for itself.
