This summer, Germans who are on the move are not paying dearly. In these months of June, July and August, they can take unlimited regional trains, buses, trams and metros for only €9 per month.
The measure has been a resounding success in terms of attendance. Tens of millions of titles have been sold. And even if the heavy traffic sometimes prevents travelers from jumping on an already crowded train, the program is appreciated.
More than 70% of holders of the €9 card also think of increasing their use of public transport, according to a survey published Wednesday by the firm McKinsey. Without the special rate, 41% of respondents would have used their car instead.
“This program was first presented as a social measure [pour contrer la hausse du prix des carburants due à la guerre en Ukraine]but now that we are talking about a potential extension, the climate issue is becoming more and more important,” explains Dorothee Saar, mobility manager for the environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe, in a video interview with The duty from Berlin.
Fewer car journeys
According to a preliminary analysis by the German statistics office based on mobile phone data, train journeys of 30 km and more jumped in June. There were 42% more than the same month three years earlier (before the pandemic, therefore). In May, the number of rail trips was essentially tied with pre-pandemic values.
At the same time, travel by car has become rare since the entry into force of the €9 ticket. For example, car trips over distances of 100 to 300 km were 6% lower in the last week of June 2022 than three years earlier. In the last week of May, on the contrary, they were 13% more numerous than in 2019.
In addition to the price, the simplicity is an appreciated quality of the program: in Germany as in Quebec, the tickets are not necessarily compatible from one city and from one region to another. However, the €9 card is valid throughout the country.
Mme Saar has her own. Although on a daily basis, she goes to the office by bicycle, she jumps on the tram during heavy rains. “Having the title makes things easier for me. To take the tram, you have to have exact change…” she points out.
Due to the success seen this summer, there are calls for the program to be extended — or a similar discounted title to be sold — beyond August 31. The Minister-President of Bavaria, Markus Söder, for example, said he was in favor of the federal government subsidizing a card at €365 ($477) per year.
A price to pay
Last Saturday, however, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner closed the door to an extension of the expensive program, which for this summer alone costs 2.5 billion euros. “The €9 vouchers are a temporary measure”, he assured, specifying that the current federal budget did not allow their sustainability.
Still, in the minds of the Germans, the idea of low-cost public transport is gaining ground. A recent poll found that 79% of people would support a publicly subsidized affordable title. Among people under 30, the approval rate rises to 90%.
On the side of the transport companies, the observation is ambivalent. If that of the Berlin-Brandenburg region considers the program a great success, other companies in Germany deplore not having obtained from the governments the means to absorb a sharp increase in their clientele.
The infrastructure and organization of public transport, of course, are struggling to meet demand. “Overnight it became clear that an improvement in service, with more buses, for example, was really needed, and that there had been far too little investment in the last few years,” says Mme Sa’ar.
Transformations of this order are, however, long-term projects. “You can order new buses, but it will take three years to get them,” notes the analyst. And for trains, it’s even longer. Beyond budgets, Germany is also struggling with a shortage of manpower — and therefore, a shortage of hands behind the wheel of new buses.
A utopia ?
Programs for free public transport — or quasi-free — seem utopian, but are they optimal solutions to promote the shift to this greener mode of transport?
“Free access can only work in certain circumstances,” replies Fanny Tremblay-Racicot, professor at the National School of Public Administration and specialist in urban transport. In particular, there are risks of “cannibalizing” pedestrian and cycle transport. But above all, questions of financing are unavoidable.
“In Quebec, transport companies are currently struggling to maintain their level of service following the pandemic. Who would pay for that? she asks. In the province, a few municipalities already offer a free service. However, the professor believes that, for large public transit companies, other models are more interesting, especially those that involve employers more.
Mme Saar agrees: “It is not realistic to extend the title to €9, it is too expensive” for public finances. The organization to which it belongs, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, therefore also recommends an annual fee of €365.
Nonetheless, the German experience will provide insight into a society where the floodgates of low-carbon transport are wide open. In fact, several other European countries are currently trying similar experiments.
Austria launched an annual pass at the end of 2021 which, for the equivalent of €3 per day, gives access to practically all public transport systems in the country. In Spain, several train journeys will be free from September. This measure is in addition to the 30% reduction in the price of all bus, tram and metro travel in the country announced in June. And in Luxembourg, all public transport has been free since 2020.