Berlin will get a follow-up regulation for the nine-euro ticket. The coalition leaders of the SPD, Greens and Left agreed on this on Friday. There will be a “temporary follow-up regulation for Berlin in 2022,” said Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) after a four-hour coalition retreat on Friday.
The ticket should be valid from October to December. According to Giffey, further details, such as the price, still have to be clarified. It was decided to commission the Senate Transport Administration with the implementation of a successor model.
In addition to the question of the ticket price, the area of validity is also open. Single-handedly, Berlin can only decide this for tariff zone AB, since zone C is already in Brandenburg.
The Berlin-Brandenburg transport association therefore reacted cautiously to the proposal for a nine-euro ticket only for Berlin. “Basically, as a transport association for two federal states, we rely on cross-area solutions for everyone,” said a spokesman on Friday.
The ticket is to be financed – the costs are estimated at up to 400 million euros – through surpluses in the state budget. On Tuesday, Senator for Finance Daniel Wesener (Greens) presented a so-called status report from the financial administration, according to which Berlin had achieved a surplus of 2.3 billion euros in the first six months of the year – due to additional tax revenue and reduced spending.
The Senator for Environment and Transport, Bettina Jarasch (Greens), explained that the ticket should be developed in coordination with the VBB transport association so that it is also acceptable for Brandenburg. Jarasch welcomed the agreement on a temporary ticket, which is intended to bridge the gap until the federal government introduces a permanent successor model.
“I am pleased that the coalition partners are going along with this, because I have always campaigned for a permanent offer. The federal government must finally present an offer that can be taken seriously,” said Jarasch.
The state chairman of the Greens, Philmon Ghirmai, praised the fundamental decision for a connection model. “Mobility is public services of general interest,” he said. Both the Greens, the SPD and the Left emphasized that they want to campaign for a nationwide ticket from January 2023.
The agreement on a successor to the nine-euro ticket was apparently reached at very short notice. Before the coalition leaders met for their meeting on Friday morning, the SPD launched its proposal to extend the nine-euro ticket via the press.
Behind the scenes, the apparently uncoordinated push caused resentment among the Greens and the Left. “Unarranged and unthinking – SPD-Berlin is rushing forward to desperately make a point,” said Green MP Susanna Kahlefeldt via Twitter and received the support of parliamentary group leader Werner Graf. This in turn had already accused the SPD of pursuing watering can politics during the week and described this as “frivolous”.
When asked what went through her head when she read the SPD proposal in the media, the state leader of the Left Party, Katina Schubert, said: “We are used to a lot.”
Nevertheless, she then praised the constructive atmosphere of the meeting and spoke afterwards of a “Berlin relief package”, which is now to be examined and put together “very promptly”. The aim of the coalition is to act “precisely and not with the watering can”, explained Schubert.
Criticism came from the CDU parliamentary group and state leader Kai Wegner: “A nine-euro ticket does not help those who do not use local transport every day. Pensioners, cyclists and people who depend on cars have nothing to gain from it.” Wegner campaigned for his parliamentary group’s proposal to pay out an energy bonus of 300 euros for every Berliner. Total cost of this proposal: 1.4 billion euros.
The Berlin taxpayers’ association also described the SPD proposal on Friday as “helpless activism of state politics with the watering can”. The Berlin state chairman Alexander Kraus explained: “It is a fallacy that the current financing surplus is available for additional expenditure.”
There is simply nothing that could be returned to the Berliners. Instead, spending should be reduced and debts paid off.
The nationwide nine-euro ticket expires on Wednesday. The party leaders of the Berlin state coalition said there was too little time for a follow-up solution in September. They want to campaign for a nationwide ticket from January 2023.
At a special session of the conference of transport ministers on Friday, the participants called on the federal government to present a viable and sustainable proposal for a successor to the nine-euro ticket “promptly”. “The high demand has clearly shown that public transport is used, but the quality still has to be significantly improved,” said Bremen’s Senator for Transport Maike Schaefer (Greens) on Friday. The federal government must take over the financing of a successor plan in full.
The federal states are also demanding that the federal government make significantly more money available for public transport. In addition to the previously requested increase in the so-called regionalization funds by 1.5 billion euros per year, the ministers are demanding a further 1.65 billion euros each for 2022 and 2023 due to the high energy prices.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing described the results of the conference as disappointing. “Citizens expect politicians to present solutions and not shift responsibilities,” said the FDP politician in Berlin.
