Tuesday, 19 November
Berlin’s €29 ticket cancelled: Austerity measures approved
Berliners, brace yourselves: the 29 euro public transport ticket is heading for an abrupt end. After a late-night session yesterday evening, the city’s governing black-red coalition has finalised sweeping austerity measures, without any changes to the list of proposals made public last week. After almost three hours of deliberations, the Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) emerged just before 10pm, exclaiming, “We are going home satisfied.”
Introduced this year in July, the 29 euro ticket was heralded as a game-changer for affordable mobility. By October, it had drawn in 210,000 commuters, but the numbers fell short of expectations. Critics, including the Berliner Fahrgastverband, dismissed it as a “dead end” that drained city funds, while environmental groups argued it undermined the nationwide 49 euro ticket, and put strain on the financing of local transport. Now, with a budget deficit of 300 million euros, the ticket has been scrapped, and Berliners will need to adjust their commutes and their bank accounts.
The AfD faction in the Berlin House of Representatives welcomed the expected end of the subscription, while the Left saw things differently: “The fact that the 29 euro ticket is being abolished again after just four months is an absolute catastrophe.”
It is not yet clear exactly when the ticket will come to an end. According to the agreed-upon resolution, the BVG has been told to implement the end of the ticket “as quickly as possible” with January 1st 2025 as the date in mind. However, it seems unlikely that the coalition will make this tight deadline in time.
The cuts don’t stop there. Berlin’s cultural sector will lose 12 percent of its funding, creating a variety of problems for theaters, museums, and Berlin’s independent culture scene. The Berliner Ensemble already anticipates cancelling five productions in the coming seasons. Meanwhile, transport projects, from tramlines to climate protection, are also being cut. Even the BVG’s ambition to electrify its bus fleet by 2030 faces serious delays.
But not everything is on the chopping block. Free school meals and daycare will remain, offering some relief to families. The same goes for resident parking permits, which, fortunately for car owners, will avoid the price hike this time. But as the dust settles, it’s clear this round of austerity has left its mark.
The 29 euro ticket may have been short-lived, but its abrupt end raises a bigger question: how will Berlin reconcile its social ambitions with the hard limits of its budget?
