The ticket will be offered for three months and will be called 9 for 90.

The move is in responseto rising energy and fuel prices triggered by the Ukraine war.

The German government wants to halve its Russian oil imports by June.

Germany sticks it to Russia by offering a €9 monthly public transport ticket

It’s free, every week, in your inbox.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck wants to be almost independent of Russian oil by the end of 2022.

Will cheap tickets mean greater public transport use?

price cuts BVG

Its unclear how much impact the subsidized publictransportwill have on car ownership or usage.

Its likely to lead to more people purchasing the low-cost tickets.

Low population density in rural areas limits the access and frequency of public transport.

Article image

It also limits the development of bike paths and any last-mile solutions.

66% could imagine taking their bike more often.

The survey further revealed that rural folks are almost equally as willing to take abicycleas city dwellers.

public transport in Berlin

So the challenges are not only logistical, but cultural.

But, is there an opportunity for a third way?

The BVG app is used to book each journey.

Article image

An algorithm bundles travel requests from several passengers with the same destination.

This creates a route, and books the passengers into a shared vehicle.

Its cheaper than a taxi and more convenient than a bus, with over two million trips so far.

Could rural areas expand on this kind of initiative?

I think it could be especially effective in regional areas with an aging population.

And ultimately, reduce German reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

edit: The article was updated to reflect that the ticketing discount is being deployed throughout Germany.

Story byCate Lawrence

Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin.

Also tagged with