Germany sets new standard for cheap, national mass transit

Germany will start one of the most affordable public transit offers anywhere in the world on Monday, setting a new benchmark to encourage consumers to ditch their cars and putting pressure on Berlin to make the shift work.

For just €49 ($54) a month, holders get unlimited travel on all city buses, subways and trams in every municipality across the country, Bloomberg reports.

That means with one ticket — which breaks down to less than the cost on one espresso a day — you can ride buses along the shores of Lake Constance on the Swiss border and traverse Hamburg’s harbor on the North Sea.

Local and regional trains are included in the so-called Deutschland-Ticket, but not faster intercity services, as the idea is to encourage people to re-route short-distance travel. 

The pass builds on the popular 9-euro ticket that was introduced last summer to help manage the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine. While the new offer is notably more expensive, its proposed run of at least two years far exceeds its predecessor’s three-month trial and indicates public transport is becoming a component of national policy rather than just a local service. 

The new ticket — available only by subscription — is priced well below normal monthly rates. To offset initial estimates of lost revenue, the federal government will provide €1.5 billion a year and Germany’s 16 states have agreed to contribute the same amount. Any additional costs will also be split. 

Despite the criticism, agreeing on the ticket was a major political act for Scholz’s government. It involved getting more than 60 transport authorities to accept a digital-only ticket, a revolution for Germany where paper slips are often still the norm.