Blue planet, green ideas | Low-cost public transport to counter inflation

Soaring energy prices affect all countries, which are looking for ways to mitigate the effects on their populations. In particular, Germany has reduced the price of public transport so that citizens leave their cars at home.

Judith Lachapelle
The Press

A bargain at nine euros

“Taking the bus and train will probably never have been so cheap in Germany. Co-leader of the Greens party, Ricarda Lang was very proud Thursday to unveil this measure adopted by the coalition government in power in Germany. For the next 90 days, Germans will only have to shell out 9 euros ($12) a month to use public transport. The measure aims to encourage users to leave their cars at home, and thus mitigate the effects of soaring gasoline costs. “Nine euros is very, very affordable”, says The Press Anne Gläser, from the German environmental organization Germanwatch. “The regular price is around 90 euros [124 $]. But we would like to see the regular rate reduced by half, permanently. »

Dark green, pale green

Germanwatch, like many observers, welcomed this reduction in public transport fares. “For real mobility transformation to become a reality, we absolutely need to change the way we get around, including a shift from motorized individual transport to public transport. From our point of view, affordable public transit is a priority to achieve our climate targets,” says Anne Gläser. Funding remains a crucial issue in Germany, particularly at the local level. “Small communities tend to have very few financial resources available,” says Ms.^me Glaser. Observers have nevertheless noted that other measures adopted by the German government go in the opposite direction of the fight against climate change, in particular the reduction of the energy tax on fuels. This will also be reduced by 0.30 euro per liter ($0.40) for three months, thus reaching the “European minimum level”.

Not just the price

“Reducing fares for public transport can be an important incentive for people to switch from the car to the train, and while participating in social justice, recalls Anne Gläser. However, studies show that reducing fares alone is not enough to convince people to use public transport. Speed, frequency, but also comfort, are also important factors. So governments also need to invest in providing “good” public transport, not just cheap transport. Sarah V. Doyon, Executive Director of Trajectoire Québec, shares the same observations. “All measures that encourage the use of public transport are welcome,” she said, recalling that during the pandemic, transport companies had offered free services during the summer. “On the other hand, the reduction in tariffs must be a temporary measure. In the current situation of public transit funding, and the loss of revenue from ridership since the start of the pandemic, this is not a measure that could be maintained for very long. »

Better targeted reductions

According to Sarah V. Doyon, a temporary reduction in public transport fares, as Germany has chosen to do, would have been an “interesting message” that the government could have sent during the presentation of the last budget. “Other than the $500 check, there’s not much to help households,” says Ms.^me Doyon, who wants the introduction of social pricing based on income to help the most disadvantaged to access public transport. “Taking public transport is certainly the best way to reduce travel costs. Transportation is the second item of expenditure for Quebec households. It should be noted that in Germany, the reduction in public transport fares is part of a major budgetary aid plan of several billion euros which aims to reduce household bills. Like Quebecers who will receive $500 (if they earn less than $100,000), Germans who qualify as “taxable employees” will receive an exceptional payment of 300 euros ($413), in addition to an additional aid of 100 euros ($138) for disadvantaged households, as well as a bonus of 100 euros for each child.

With Agence France-Presse