Minimum standards and structures
Wissing wants to reform transport associations
04/16/2022 11:59 am
Some federal states have several transport associations, other regions are not organized in any, and prices also differ. Transport Minister Wissing wants to modernize and standardize this confused system. The new 9-euro ticket is a welcome opportunity.
Federal Minister of Transport Volker Wissing wants to advocate a structural reform of local public transport in Germany. “Cross-transport ticket offers are still in short supply. That should change,” Wissing told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND). He announced a catalog of measures for an “expansion and modernization pact” by the fall.
“We need a modernization, a reform of the structures. I’m going to exchange ideas with the countries,” Wissing continued. According to the report, this also involves reducing the number of transport associations. Such questions cannot be solved with more money alone, added the transport minister. In talks with the countries, the main focus should therefore be on “what it is spent on”. Advice should be given on quality criteria, minimum standards and network structures.
In Germany there are currently a large number of regional transport associations with very different offers and tariffs. Only in the city states of Hamburg and Bremen as well as in Saarland is there a state-wide tariff, and Berlin and Brandenburg also have a nationwide, transnational transport association.
Some regions do not belong to any association
In all other federal states there are several transport associations, which are sometimes more or less networked or not at all. Also, not all of them include local rail transport. Various districts, especially in Bavaria, but also occasionally in Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt or Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania do not belong to any transport association, which usually results in significantly more expensive or poorer transport connections.
The debate about a structural reform of the 9-euro monthly ticket currently planned for the months of June to August is being heated up. This should apply nationwide for all means of local transport and thus avoid the otherwise usual jungle of tariffs. In addition, there has been discussion for some time about 365-euro annual tickets for public transport in order to increase its attractiveness.