The countdown to the launch of the 49-Euro-Ticket begins on May 1. From April 3, the ticket will be available digitally or via Chipkarte. Students can take advantage of this by “updating” their Semesterticket.
Deutschlandticket at 49 euros per month is expected to attract millions of students and the working population. To this end, the transport ministers of the Länder agreed at the spring conference in Aachen on uniform rules. For example, in the future, students will be able to use the all-German 49-Euro-Ticket simply by “updating” their Semesterticket, said North Rhine-Westphalia Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (The Greens ), Chairman of the Länder Committee.
Under the current system, students pay tuition fees – usually between 20 and 36 euros per month – and can then use public transport (ÖPNV) in their area. If they want to buy a Deutschlandticket from May 1, they only have to pay the difference. This group of the population uses buses and trains particularly often, which is why transport workers want to encourage students to buy a Deutschlandticket, underlined Petra Berg (SPD), Minister of Transport for Saarland.
“The smaller the hole in the pocket”
The second suitable target group for the new ticket, dubbed “revolution” or “new era” by federal transport ministers, is Germany’s 46 million workers. Hesse’s Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (The Greens) called on all employers to make the 49-Euro-Ticket available to their employees.
“The more participants, the smaller the hole in the pocket,” he pointed out. Al-Wazir calculates that a Deutschlandticket with a starting price of 49 euros per month will mean significant savings for customers of many transport associations. For example, in Hesse, the most expensive ticket – between Fulda and Wiesbaden – costs 250 euros. “Deutschlandticket will mean a significant reduction in prices with a significant expansion of services,” he said. “As of May 1, city, county and even state boundaries will cease to play a role.”
Losses for transport workers
On the other hand, such a ticket would a priori mean a significant shortfall for transport companies. Therefore, the federal and state governments are allocating an additional three billion euros in support. The 49-Euro-Ticket, which starts on April 3, is only available as a subscription, which can be canceled monthly. Additionally, this will be the first ticket that can only be purchased digitally. However, it is not necessary to have a smartphone for this. Transport associations also offer it at their points of sale.
Those who do not have a smartphone or do not want to use it for this purpose can purchase a smart card that provides access to data in digital form. The digital ticket will also be used to better control traffic planning in the future: “It is the only way to collect and evaluate user data anonymously.”
