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Berlin plan for €1 per day public transport ticket stirs up controversy

Berlin’s Social Democrats are pushing for a €365 annual ticket for public transport. But it’s already proving a controversial proposal, with a Munich travel boss warning against it.

Published: 27 January 2020 09:38 CET
Updated: 27 January 2020 10:56 CET
Berlin plan for €1 per day public transport ticket stirs up controversy
Is Berlin's public transport on the road to becoming cheaper? Photo: DPA

The head of the Munich Transport and Tariff Association (MVV), Bernd Rosenbusch issued a warning to Berlin’s Social Democrats (SPD) against introducing the €365 annual ticket for local public transport, reported the Tagesspiegel.

Last July, Berlin mayor Michael Müller said he was “inspired' by the city of Vienna, which has offered a €365 annual ticket since 2012, saying the German capital should follow in its footsteps.

The move would drastically reduce the cost of the annual ticket for the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, bus and tram system. The cheapest yearly ticket for the AB tariff zone currently costs €728.

READ ALSO:

But Rosenbusch said the ticket had failed to bring new customers to Vienna.

He said what really attracted more users to public transport had been the expansion of the transport infrastructure and the increase in parking fees.

“The Viennese could have gone without it, it just costs a lot of money,” he said. 

The idea of a €1 per day ticket for all was recently buried in Bavaria. Instead, the southern state limited themselves to the introduction of a €365 ticket for pupils and trainees.

Huge cost for cheap annual ticket

At its annual meeting in Nuremberg on Saturday, Müller urged the SPD parliamentary group to support the drive “to make local public transport more attractive” for social and climate protection reasons.

According to internal sums by the Senate, it would cost €160 million per year as a subsidy to the Berlin transport authority (BVG) to introduce the cheaper ticket. Berlin mayor Müller recently said he would raise federal funds for a pilot project.

On January 10th, Müller wrote a letter to Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, of the CSU, asking for support. The government had previously announced that it intended to support several cities in pilot projects for the introduction of a €1 per day public transport ticket. Leipzig has also applied for this.

However, Rosenbusch advised Berlin to avoid it. 

“Why not increase parking fees first and invest in the quality of public transport?” he said in his speech to the SPD on Saturday.

Tilman Bracher, of the German Institute of Urban Affairs, also expressed his reservations. He said a €365 ticket only works if there is additional money coming in, such as with higher parking fees or a city toll. 

Discounts for Berlin tickets

Berlin has introduced a raft of discounted tickets so far.

There's already a €365 ticket for apprentices, while school pupils travel free of charge. The 'social ticket' for people receiving unemployment benefits costs €27.50 per month.

READ ALSO: Berlin makes public transport free for all schoolchildren

There's also a Job Ticket that's being supported the state. If an employer subsidizes an annual ticket for employees with €15 per month, the BVG pays an addition €8. The AB-Ticket then only costs €452. So far, the BVG has signed contracts for a Job Ticket with 250 Berlin companies.

Some tickets for the Berlin Transport system went up in price at the start of the year. For example, a day ticket for the AB zone used to be €7 but now costs €8.60.

Vocabulary

Local transport – (der) Nahverkehr

Transport infrastructure – (die) Verkehrsinfrastruktur

Parking fees – (die) Parkgebühren

Affordable – bezahlbar

We're aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

 

 

 

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TRAVEL

Explore Austria: Mauer, a charming wine-hiking spot on Vienna’s outskirts

Catch the very tail-end of the wine season and autumn foliage in one of the lesser-explored corners of the Austrian capital: Mauer.

Published: 12 November 2021 17:03 CET
Updated: 24 September 2023 08:20 CEST
Explore Austria: Mauer, a charming wine-hiking spot on Vienna’s outskirts
Beautiful views and cosy taverns await you on the edge of Vienna. Photo: Catherine Edwards

Wine-hiking is an autumn must-do in Austria. There’s the official Wine Hiking Day (Weinwandertag) that usually draws in big crowds, but it’s also possible to follow the routes through beautiful scenery and wine taverns on your own.

Mauer in the southwest of Vienna is one of the routes that is mostly frequented by locals.


The footpath takes you through scenic vineyards. Photo: Catherine Edwards

You can reach this part of the 23rd district using Vienna’s public transport, and you have a few options. From the Hietzing station on the U4 line, you can take the tramline 60 or bus 56A. The former will take you either to Mauer’s central square or you can get off earlier at Franz-Asenbauer-Gasse to start the hike. If it’s too early in the day for wine just yet, you could start your day at the small and charming Designo cafe (Geßlgasse 6).

Otherwise, the residential area itself doesn’t have much to see, but keep an eye out as you wander between the taverns later — there are some beautiful buildings.

To start the hike, head west along Franz-Asenbauer Gasse, which will take you up into the vineyards, growing some red wine and Vienna’s specialty Gemischter Satz or ‘field blend’, which as the name suggests is a mixture of different types of grapes.

Photo: Catherine Edwards

The paved road takes a left turn, but the hiking route follows a smaller path further upwards. Here you’ll have magnificent views over the whole of Vienna.

If you stick to the official hiking route (see a map from Weinwandern here) you can keep the whole route under 5 kilometres. But more adventurous types don’t need to feel limited.

You can also follow the Stadtwanderweg 6 route (see a map here) either in full, which will add on a hefty 13 kilometres, or just in part, and venture further into the Mauerwald. If you do this, one spot to aim for is the Schießstätte, a former hunting lodge offering hearty Austrian meals.

EXPLORE AUSTRIA

In any case, you should definitely take a small detour to see the Wotrubakirche, an example of brutalist architecture from the mid-1970s built on a site that was used as a barracks during the Second World War.

Not far from the church is the Pappelteich, a small pond that is not only an important habitat for local flora and fauna, but a popular picnic spot for hikers. Its only water supply is from the rain, and due to climate change the pond has almost dried out in recent years, prompting the city to take action to boost its water supply by adding a permanent pipe.


The church is made up of over 150 concrete blocks. Photo: Catherine Edwards

What you really come to Mauer for, though, are the Heuriger or Viennese wine taverns. 

The most well-known is Edlmoser (Maurer Lange Gasse 123) which has previously been named as the best in Vienna. Note that it’s not open all year so check the website, but in 2021 it should be open between November 5th and 21st, and is also serving the goose that is a popular feature on Viennese menus this time of year.

Tip for translating Heuriger opening times: look for the word ausg’steckt, which is used by those taverns which aren’t open year round. They will also often show that they’re open by attaching a bunch of green twigs to the sign or front door.


Buschenschank Grausenburger. Photo: Catherine Edwards

Also worth visiting are cosy Buschenschank Grausenburger (Maurer Lange Gasse 101a), Heuriger Wiltschko (Wittgensteinstrasse 143 — located near the start of the hiking route, this is a good place to begin your tour) and Heuriger Fuchs-Steinklammer (Jesuitensteig 28).

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