Giffey defends the new 29-euro ticket

Traffic - Giffey defends the new 29-euro ticket

Berlin's Senator for Economics and Finance, Franziska Giffey (SPD), criticizes the new 29-Euro-Ticket as incorrect. "It's a good day for 160,000 people who have said this ticket is exactly what I need," Giffey said at the ticket's launch on Monday at RBB-Welle radioeins. "I find it amazing how criticism has rolled out in general. Both CDU and SPD had promised mobility for less than one Euro per day in their election programs."

"We need to remember how it came about," Giffey said. "It was about relieving the population in a crisis situation. It was about getting more people into public transport, enabling participation, offering an alternative to cars."

Giffey: "Every tenth Berliner will be able to benefit from it"

There was criticism regarding the number of users, which is significantly lower than the approximately 650,000 subscriptions, with which calculations were previously made. "We calculate that it will eventually be between 300,000 and 400,000. So every tenth Berliner will then be able to benefit from it," Giffey said. "That's not nothing."

The ticket is particularly attractive for people who are not frequently traveling throughout Germany and for those whose social ticket does not apply. "Elderly people benefit greatly from it," Giffey said.

"Now we need to see how the ticket runs."

The Social Democrat, who at that time was still the SPD party chairwoman and SPD candidate for the 29-Euro-Ticket in the 2023 election campaign, also dismissed criticism that the ticket would only attract relatively few new customers to public transport. "We see that 30% of the subscription closings at the BVG are from new customers, which is a value that cannot be denied. At the S-Bahn, it's 20%," Giffey explained. "Now we need to see how the ticket runs."

Regarding the costs of around 300 million Euro, which are budgeted for the ticket in the 2025 budget, Giffey said: "The 300 million will most likely not be fully spent. They will then also be available for other purposes."

1. Despite Frankfurtiska Giffey's criticism of the 29-Euro-Ticket, both the CDU and SPD had included affordable mobility options in their election programs.
2. The new ticket is expected to benefit around every tenth Berliner, making railroad travel more accessible for a significant portion of the population, particularly the elderly.
3. As part of the election campaign for the 2023 election, Giffey, who served as the SPD party chairwoman and candidate for the 29-Euro-Ticket, dismissed concerns about the ticket attracting few new customers to public transportation.
4. Giffey also mentioned that the costs associated with the ticket, estimated at 300 million Euros, may not be fully spent, providing potential funds for other projects or initiatives.

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