The states have asked the federal government to provide more money for local transport. Brandenburg’s Transport Minister Guido Beermann (CDU) said today in the Bundesrat that the federal government’s increase in regionalization funds is a necessary step – but this is not enough to achieve the goal of a traffic turnaround. He spoke of structural underfunding.
The Bundesrat approved changes to the regionalization law. According to this, the regionalization funds will increase by one billion euros in 2022. They should also increase by three percent annually from 2023 instead of the previous 1.8 percent. The federal states and transport associations use the funds to order train and bus connections from transport companies.
The federal and state governments had agreed on the increases at the beginning of November. The federal states had made this a condition for co-financing the planned nationwide 49-euro monthly ticket. The countries are aiming for the ticket to start in early April.
Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Transport Winfried Hermann (Greens) pointed to funding gaps in local transport. The states are working with the federal government on a new financial architecture. However, it cannot be about shifting the burden onto states. The Hessian Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) said that the increase in regionalization funds would give the federal states some breathing room so that no traffic had to be canceled. He rejected the accusation that the federal states would “bunker” the funds and spend them on other purposes.
Bremen’s Transport Senator Maike Schaefer (Greens) said that a massive qualitative expansion of local public transport was necessary. The regionalization funds are not a gift from the federal government, but the federal government is obliged to do so.
