Ticket vending machine
© dpa
People in Berlin will be able to benefit from the 29-euro public transport ticket for longer than previously planned.
«The 29-euro ticket will be extended until the end of March,» Berlin's Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) announced on Tuesday after a senate meeting. The lower-cost ticket for 29 euros per month has been available since October as a temporary successor to the 9-euro ticket from the summer. So far, it was planned to be valid up to and including December.
Since, according to Giffey, the Senate no longer expects the planned nationwide uniform tariff solution for public transport to come into effect on January 01, 2023, the 29-euro ticket will be extended for an initial period of three months. In addition, a social ticket for 9 euros per month will be available in Berlin from January until at least the end of March. The group of peoplewho can benefit from the ticket is also to be significantly expanded. According to the Senate, about 650,000 people should be entitled to such a ticket for 9 euros per month.
What will happen after April 2023 is still open and depends not least on what nationwide solution the federal and state governments agree on. Most recently, there was talk of a 49-euro ticket, but financing questions were still open.
According to mobility senator Bettina Jarasch (Greens), one consideration is to then «build on the 49-euro ticket in some places» and discount it for Berlin from other financial pots. She also repeated her idea of developing a socially graduated public transport fare structure in the region together with the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB).