Public transport should be much cheaper – for the sake of the climate: Greens demand half the price for everyone

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A year with public transport for 49 euros: the so-called Deutschlandticket has been available in Germany since May. Regional trains, suburban trains, buses and trams – all local and regional transport is covered. You only need to buy a ticket for long-distance traffic.

Train and bus travelers in Switzerland can only dream of such prices. A one-way ticket from Bern to Zurich alone costs CHF 51 – without the Half-Fare travel card – more than a ticket for Germany. And it will be even more expensive in the future: last week, SBB announced price increases of an average of 4.3 percent.

Half travel card for everyone

The Greens think it can’t go on like this. “These prices make you think twice if you really want to take the train instead of the car,” says Marionna Schlatter, 42, National Councilor for Zurich Green. For example, there is the half fare card, which allows you to travel throughout Switzerland for half the price. But the 185 francs that is the subscription fee for new customers is far too high a barrier to entry from Schlatters’ point of view. Now a “liberation strike” is needed.

On a whim, Schlatter is calling for the Half-Fare travel card to be abolished — and for all ticket prices to be halved for everyone. The politician admits that the demand sounds populist. “But if we are really serious about our climate goals, then we need a shift in traffic. And price is an important factor there.”

“It takes political will”

Schlatter says the intention is to start a debate with the initiative. The alderman is particularly disturbed by the fact that so-called private motorized transport has become cheaper in recent years, while public transport has become more expensive. This is evident from an evaluation by the price monitor. The share of public transport in total traffic has been stagnating for years.

“Now it takes political will to change that,” says Schlatter. willingness to spend a lot of money. The ticket of 49 euros in Germany costs the federal and state governments 3 billion euros a year. The Bundesrat would first have to show which price tag would have a halving of ticket prices. Last year, SBB earned almost 3.4 billion francs from ticket and subscription sales.

However, the question is how much that would actually yield. Numerous studies have shown that price is an important factor when choosing a mode of transport, but not the main one. This is according to a report from the Association of Public Transport. The travel time is even more important – not only the actual, but also the felt. (lha)

Source:Blick