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Is Venice really the world’s priciest commuter city?

A report compiled by B2B supplier Expert Market has labelled Venice the "worst offender" when it comes to extortionate public transport costs.

Is Venice really the world’s priciest commuter city?
One of the city's water buses. Photo: Luis Villa del Campo

The report compared the cost of commuting in over 50 cities worldwide, giving Venice the dubious honour of being named the world's most expensive city for commuting.

It calculated that Venetians spend a whopping 26 percent of their wages each months on commuting  – a much higher figure than in other cities: commuters in New York pay just four percent.

The study calculated the cost of commuting as a percentage of monthly salaries using 2015 income data from Numbeo and fares of a one-day public transport pass. 

There's no denying that tourist haven Venice takes advantage of its beauty spot status by charging premium prices for hotels or drinks in the city centre, something which risks pricing out the locals.

Karoline Steckley, an American expat living in Trieste, said the city was quickly becoming a commuter town for Venice.

“I know people who commute to Venice – it is a 1.5-hour train ride from Trieste. They tend to concentrate their work week into three days or so in Venice and the rest from home,” she said.

However, Steckley added that plenty of people still managed to live in Venice. “It can be done either way,” she added.

One blogger living in Venice told The Local: “Venetian public transportation is very expensive. A one way ticket on a public water boat (vaporetto) has gone up this year to €7.50 euro.”

“Venetians walk a lot!” She laughed but also pointed out that locals can make use of a €37 monthly pass, allowing unlimited use of the vaporetti and some local buses and trams.

When The Local contacted Hello Venice, the city’s public transport provider, they explained that the €20 daily fare used in Expert Market's calculations was “not for locals”, and that a different travel card, the Venezia Unica pass, is available for “frequent users” of the city's public transport and offers different monthly subscriptions, starting at €37.

An annual pass can be purchased for just €370, making the cost per day just over €1. Furthermore, elderly residents can benefit from a free or discounted annual travel card, depending on their income. 

With the Venezia Unica pass, a single journey is just €1.50, less than a quarter of the €7.50 it costs for those visiting the city. This would mean that commuters making a return journey each day using the pass would spend closer to a much more reasonable three percent of the average salary.

The Local was told that the tourist passes offer additional benefits such as discounted entry to museums – which can save you a fortune if you're visiting.

The Venezia Unica card can be used over a five-year period and costs €10 for Venice residents, €20 for those in the Veneto region, and €50 for non-locals.  If you're visiting the beautiful city, it could be a worthwhile investment.

Whatever you do, avoid one way tickets and day passes, or Venice really is an incredibly expensive commuter city.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of 420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of 2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some 200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of 2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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