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Last year there was a brief period where the same ticket cost 9€/month. It was a success but discontinued for mainly political reasons. There is a fund however

Last year there was a brief period where the same ticket cost 9€/month. It was a success but discontinued for mainly political reasons. There is a fund however where you subscribe for 9€ and if you get caught riding without a ticket they pay your fine. Unfortunately, the threat of prison makes this idea not sustainable. But it is a nice display of hacker spirit.

Arnt 3y ago
That's misleading wording. The political reason for discontinuing was that it was started as a limited-time, limited-cost experiment. I feel very strongly that states should be able to run limited-time, limited-cost experiment, even big expensive ones like this. That requires that people accept that the experiment ends, and do not expect it to be a new norm. If people expect an experiment to last forever, then it'll be too difficult to agree on what the next experiment may be. Besides, I feel that it's stupid to think that the terms/rules which were chosen quickly for an experiment happen to be the best ones for the long-term future. If anyone says so, I think that implies that they haven't really studied what happened in the experiment.
- Semaphor 3y ago
  While I generally agree with you, I think a lot of anger comes from the amount spent on cars (including for the Dienstwagenprivileg) and roads, versus how much is considered "too expensive" regarding public transport. edit: Thought I’d add some numbers: Dienstwagenprivileg (de-facto tax subsidies for company cars that are used privately) 3.1 - 5+ billion Euro [0] Current Deutschlandticket cost 3 billion Euro [1] Sources are both in German [0]: https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/steuerverguenstigungen-pendlerpauschale-dienstwagenprivileg-diese-subventionen-kosten-den-staat-viele-milliarden/28623450.html https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/steuerverguenstigungen-... [1]: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/mobilitaet/hohe-kosten-durch-deutschlandticket-nahverkehr-wird-in-den-nachsten-jahren-vermutlich-deutlich-teurer-10370548.html https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/mobilitaet/hohe-koste... edit2: Had the Deutschlandticket cost wrong for a few minutes, 3, not 1.5 billion.
  - MandieD 3y ago
    And Dienstwagenprivileg really is a privilege: it's usually only for people whose jobs involve a lot of driving (sales or consulting) or as a perk for managers.

Arnt 3y ago

That's misleading wording. The political reason for discontinuing was that it was started as a limited-time, limited-cost experiment. I feel very strongly that states should be able to run limited-time, limited-cost experiment, even big expensive ones like this. That requires that people accept that the experiment ends, and do not expect it to be a new norm. If people expect an experiment to last forever, then it'll be too difficult to agree on what the next experiment may be. Besides, I feel that it's stupid to think that the terms/rules which were chosen quickly for an experiment happen to be the best ones for the long-term future. If anyone says so, I think that implies that they haven't really studied what happened in the experiment.

Semaphor 3y ago
While I generally agree with you, I think a lot of anger comes from the amount spent on cars (including for the Dienstwagenprivileg) and roads, versus how much is considered "too expensive" regarding public transport. edit: Thought I’d add some numbers: Dienstwagenprivileg (de-facto tax subsidies for company cars that are used privately) 3.1 - 5+ billion Euro [0] Current Deutschlandticket cost 3 billion Euro [1] Sources are both in German [0]: https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/steuerverguenstigungen-pendlerpauschale-dienstwagenprivileg-diese-subventionen-kosten-den-staat-viele-milliarden/28623450.html https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/steuerverguenstigungen-... [1]: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/mobilitaet/hohe-kosten-durch-deutschlandticket-nahverkehr-wird-in-den-nachsten-jahren-vermutlich-deutlich-teurer-10370548.html https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/mobilitaet/hohe-koste... edit2: Had the Deutschlandticket cost wrong for a few minutes, 3, not 1.5 billion.
- MandieD 3y ago
  And Dienstwagenprivileg really is a privilege: it's usually only for people whose jobs involve a lot of driving (sales or consulting) or as a perk for managers.