The monthly €9 ticket, valid this summer on a large part of the German public transport network, has been a huge success, but at the cost of crowded platforms and trains and delays. Point J wonders if this type of measure is really productive.
“The first observation is that the trains were full and even crowded. It was really a popular success. Basically, 52 million tickets were sold and 10 million people already had monthly subscriptions who benefited from it. This is not negligible”, describes Patricia Perennes, an economist specializing in rail transport.
She adds that “70 to 80% of Germans have a positive opinion on this ticket. But if we take up the initial objectives, in particular the modal shift (from road to rail, editor’s note), the impact has not was so huge.” According to the first estimates, this postponement was estimated at 3%, but the German transport federation later claimed that it would in fact be 10%.
The 9-Euro-Ticket was mainly used for leisure, not for professional travel. So for the long term change…I have some doubts.
Several impact studies have also been carried out. The German statistics institute, for example, observed the movement of mobile phones in June, July and August, and noticed an explosion in rail transport (+ 42%), but only a slight decline in road transport. The cars therefore did not really remain in the garage. On the other hand, traffic congestion in some cities has eased somewhat, according to data from GPS manufacturer Tomtom.
What type of users has this measure affected? Could it lead to lasting behavioral changes?
>> Listen to the full episode:
Jessica Vial and the Point J team
