By Gunnar Schupelius
The cheap monthly ticket is to be offered in Berlin by the end of the year, even to those who are not in financial need. This is not serious politics, but rather irresponsible sensationalism, says Gunnar Schupelius.
The 9-euro ticket will no longer be offered nationwide from September. Only in Berlin should the monthly ticket continue to be cheaper, which normally costs 86 euros.
The red-green-red coalition agreed on Friday at the suggestion of the governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD). “80 percent think it’s good,” she told BZ, referring to the people of Berlin.
It is not known which surveys it is based on, but it could well be that the approval reaches such values, because 9 euros per month, i.e. 30 cents a day, are almost like free tariffs.
SPD, Greens and Left are pursuing two goals with the 9-euro ticket. Firstly, they want to relieve people in general when there is inflation. Secondly, they want to offer an incentive to switch from cars to buses and trains.
Are these goals achieved? It doesn’t look like that. An evaluation by the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and Deutsche Bahn showed that the 9-euro ticket provided an incentive for longer train journeys, especially on weekends.
Additional leisure trips by train were thus subsidised, while car traffic hardly decreased. In June, for example, only three percent of car journeys were eliminated due to the low rail fare.
So will at least relieve the burden on households? Yes, but also of those who do not need this relief at all. There are a lot of Berliners who can certainly afford the monthly card for 86 even in times of inflation because they earn enough money. Why should they be able to enjoy the 9 euro ticket?
Gunnar Schupelius – My trouble
The discount, which lowers the price of the monthly ticket from 86 to 9 euros, is financed by the taxpayer. This means that people with low incomes pay the 9 euro ticket for the rich people. This is the completely wrong redistribution. And if you don’t use the ticket at all, you also pay for it.
By the end of the year, the Senate expects more than 400 million euros to be spent on cheap monthly tickets. Where is this money supposed to come from? Berlin has a debt of around 63 billion euros, plus 23 billion euros in debt from state-owned companies.
So we are sitting on a mountain of debt totaling 86 (!) billion euros, which our children and grandchildren have to pay off. There’s really no room at all for the 9-euro monthly pass.
Ms. Giffey and her coalition partners like to hand out gifts, to everyone if possible. School lunches and bus and train travel are free for all students, even if they come from parents who can easily pay for both.
All gifts are given on credit. This policy is not serious, it is populism, irresponsible sensationalism.
The public sector should help when people are really in need, otherwise not.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153 or email: [email protected]
