What was “unimaginable” a year ago is now becoming a reality. “It’s a huge success,” Krischer continued. Sales start officially on April 3rd, and the ticket can already be pre-ordered in many transport associations.
With regard to uniform rules in the individual federal states, such as taking bicycles with you, Krischer said that the states are now working on this. The federal and state governments are willing to “quickly clarify unclear detailed questions and make the ticket a success”. Nevertheless, when the 49-euro ticket starts, “there will be a rumble in one place or another”, which cannot be avoided with such a large project.
After the meeting of the Transport Ministers’ Conference on Wednesday, Krischer said he was “absolutely satisfied” with their decisions. Work is also being done on a “permanent, nationwide regulation for students”. Due to the “complex tariff system in Germany”, a corresponding regulation by May 1st cannot yet be created. The Greens politician emphasized on ZDF that there shouldn’t be a “patchwork quilt”.
However, Krischer sees weaknesses in the financing of public transport in Germany in particular. “Here, in many places, there is a risk that the mileage will be canceled due to a lack of money.” If more people should switch from cars to local public transport, “then we have to expand traffic,” said Krischer. Here, however, the federal states reached their funding limits. Krischer therefore sees the federal government as having an obligation. The federal government should not “pull itself out of responsibility” now.
The Deutschlandticket was originally supposed to be introduced at the turn of the year. It quickly became apparent that this would not be possible. The preparations were bumpy – those responsible in the federal states and the Federal Ministry of Transport blamed each other for the delays. There was a dispute about the distribution of costs, but also about questions such as whether there should be a paper ticket in addition to a digital version.
