The Pros and Cons of the Nine Euro Ticket

The 9 Euro Ticket was proposed the SPD in 2019 and aimed to encourage more people to use public transportation by offering a day pass for €9, for around 10–11 dollars, for most types of public transport not including highspeed intercity trains and intercity buses.

The offer aimed to make it easier for people to use public transportation. By making travel more affordable for low-income individuals and families, helping in climate change, and decongesting traffic.

The results of the 9 Euro Ticket offer varied. While it helped people to use public transportation, reducing emissions and traffic. It also put a strain on public transportation systems, as they struggled to accommodate the sudden increase in passengers, particularly during peak hours. Likewise, it was extremely expensive for the state, costing about 2.5 billion euros in just 3 months.

There are arguments for and against the reintroduction of the 9 euro ticket. Supporters argue that it would help to promote sustainable travel and improve access to transportation for those who can’t afford it. However, opponents argue that it could lead to overcrowding on public transportation and add increased strain to government expenses.

While I think this was an interesting and a beneficial activity overall. I do think that the arguments about expenses and system strain are valid. Perhaps something like an 18–25 euro ticket seems like it would strike a good middle ground between cheap enough to have a noticeable effect on traffic and expensive enough to decrease strain on the industry.

CDU political leaders were initially skeptical about the offer, believing that it would be difficult to finance and could lead to overcrowding on public transportation. While this ultimately did happen the party does believe that public transport needs to be expanded and were willing to cooperate with SPD around the development of the program.