Germany’s Cheap Transit Ticket Is Boosting Train Trips, DPA Says

Germany’s affordable public transit offer has successfully nudged consumers to ditch their cars for trains, according to news agency DPA.

(Bloomberg) — Germany’s affordable public transit offer has successfully nudged consumers to ditch their cars for trains, according to news agency DPA. 

After the so-called Deutschland-Ticket started in May, the number of train trips of more than 30 kilometers (19 miles) increased by more than a quarter in June compared with the previous months, DPA reported, citing data from mobile telecommunications provider O2 Telefonica.

Read More: Germany Sets the New Standard for Cheap, National Mass Transit

For €49 ($55) a month, ticket holders get unlimited travel on all city buses, subways and trams in every municipality across Germany. The ticket is a follow-up to an even cheaper but limited offer last summer. 

The nationwide plan aims to reduce carbon emissions by making it easier and cheaper for people to use public transport rather than cars. Overall, the share of train trips in personal transport increased by 2.5 percentage points, according to O2’s analysis of mobile phone data. 

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