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The nationwide public transport ticket for Germany will still be available in 2024 but its monthly price may go up, the federal government and the country鈥檚 16 states announced following a compromise agreement between them on its funding. The agreement will cover the "Germany Ticket鈥檚" funding throughout the next year, during which the federal government and the states will meet again to decide on a long-term financing plan that 鈥渋ncludes a mechanism for updating the ticket鈥檚 price that might also include a price increase,鈥� public broadcaster ARD . The ticket鈥檚 future had been hanging in the balance for weeks, as chancellor Olaf Scholz鈥檚 government coalition and the state governments could not agree on how to compensate for the losses to public transport operators. The operators complained they were being left out of pocket by the ticket, which is valid on most public transport options across the country for a flat rate fare of 49 euros per month - a price labelled as an 鈥渋ntroduction price鈥�.

The current funding model will leave a gap of about 400 million euros next year, according to public transport operators. But the states and the federal coalition on Monday agreed to tap into unused funds from 2023 and co-fund 1.5 billion euros each in 2024 before deciding on further mechanisms 鈥渋n due course鈥�. Transport minister Volker Wissing said the states no longer had any reason 鈥渢o put the Germany Ticket into question.鈥� The minister said a new concept should be developed by May 2024, one year after the scheme was first introduced. Hesse鈥檚 state premier Boris Rhein, who currently heads the state premier conference, said the states have no intention of undermining the nationwide ticket.聽鈥淲e want to continue it,鈥� Rhein said.

Environmental group Greenpeace criticised the agreement, saying it did not rule out price increases. 鈥淚f customers now have to expect a price rise at any time, this will choke off the ticket鈥檚 success before it even got started in earnest,鈥� Greenpeace transport expert Clara Thompson said. J眉rgen Resch, head of NGO Environmental Action Germany (DUH), said the Germany Ticket would mark 鈥渙ne of the few things the federal government got right in terms of the transport transition.鈥� While the government had no issue 鈥渨asting billions of euros on new motorway projects, where cost increases are just shrugged off, funding an affordable 49-euro ticket seems to be an almost utopian task,鈥� Resch said. Scholz鈥檚 coalition had promised to increase the number of public transport users. 鈥淭his can be funded through ending environmentally damaging subsides such as supporting climate damaging company cars or diesel fuel,鈥� Resch added.

A recent survey had found that up to a third of current Germany Ticket holders could opt out of the scheme if the price was to rise further. The ticket had initially been introduced at a fare of 9 euros in the middle of 2022 amid the energy crisis. While most citizens welcomed the scheme and up to a third of people signalled their interest in buying it, the effects on emissions reduction and car use so far have been ambiguous.