Could drivers in Germany fund a future €9 ticket scheme?
Germany's much-talked about €9 ticket offer ends later this month. But a think tank has suggested that a toll system for drivers could provide funding to subsidise public transport, as well as to upgrade the roads network.
It is the main sticking point for reduced price travel continuing in Germany after the €9 ticket expires at the end of August - where would the money come from?
Now a group of experts have a proposal on how it could be funded in the future - and it involves car drivers.
In a study, the think tank Centrum für Europäische Politik (CEP) presented a concept for a general car toll, the revenue from which could be used to finance the costs of a permanent €9 ticket for local transport.
In the paper, which was made available to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, the authors propose a route-dependent toll system throughout Germany - i.e. not only on Autobahns or country roads, but on all roads. This could be made possible by a satellite-based recording of the kilometres driven.
Furthermore, there would be differences in the prices per kilometre depending on the vehicle class, in order to reflect the different loads on the infrastructure caused by the weight and exhaust emissions of the vehicles.
READ ALSO:
- How the Greens want to replace Germany's €9 ticket
- What happens to Germany’s €9 ticket at the end of August?
The CEP calculated a surcharge of 6.9 cents per kilometre, however, there is currently an upper limit of four cents in Europe. The researchers suggest standardising the different toll systems that are used in European countries.
According to the study, revenue from the toll, amounting to around €12 billion, could initially be used to cover maintenance costs and to reduce the investment backlog in road transport. In this way, the acceptance of the levy among motorists could also be increased, the experts said.
However, the indirect consequential costs of car traffic, such as exhaust fumes and noise, should also be compensated. The report authors said the funds could therefore also used to expand public transport or to finance a permanent €9 ticket.
The ticket, which is valid in all public transport networks in Germany - including on regional trains - currently costs around €2.5 billion for three months.
The suggestion comes after an attempt to introduce a car toll in Germany that only foreign drivers would have paid because German drivers were to be reimbursed failed under the previous federal government. The European Court of Justice rejected it as discrimination against foreign drivers.
Tax excess profits of companies
Meanwhile, Social Democrat leader Lars Klingbeil has said a follow-up ticket to the €9 offer could be funded by an 'excess profits tax'.
"We have just seen that the €9 ticket makes sense, that it is accepted, that the citizens also want the extension," Klingbeil told the radio station NDR Info.
With the excess profits tax, he said, the financing of a successor model could also be pushed forward.
The excess profits tax is intended for companies that profit from the energy crisis without making any contribution of their own. In Britain, for example, oil and gas companies have to pay a temporary 25 per cent tax on their extra profits. In Germany's traffic light coalition, the Greens are also in favour of a supplementary tax, while the pro-business FDP rejects it.
FDP leader and Finance Minister Christian Lindner has repeatedly rejected an immediate follow-up to the €9 ticket, blaming finance woes.
At the weekend Lindner slammed the "freebie mentality" surrounding the ticket, and said continuing it with funding from the government wouldn't be fair anyway.
"People in the countryside who don't have a train station nearby and depend on the car would subsidise cheap local transport," he said. "I don't think that's fair,"
READ ALSO:
- 'Foreigner toll' on German Autobahn network ruled illegal by EU court
- What you need to know about Austria's vignette motorway toll stickers
Vocabulary
Car toll - (die) Pkw-Maut
Local transport - (der) Nahverkehr
Revenue - (die) Einnahmen
Freebie mentality - (die) Gratismentalität
We’re aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.
Comments (1)
See Also
It is the main sticking point for reduced price travel continuing in Germany after the €9 ticket expires at the end of August - where would the money come from?
Now a group of experts have a proposal on how it could be funded in the future - and it involves car drivers.
In a study, the think tank Centrum für Europäische Politik (CEP) presented a concept for a general car toll, the revenue from which could be used to finance the costs of a permanent €9 ticket for local transport.
In the paper, which was made available to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, the authors propose a route-dependent toll system throughout Germany - i.e. not only on Autobahns or country roads, but on all roads. This could be made possible by a satellite-based recording of the kilometres driven.
Furthermore, there would be differences in the prices per kilometre depending on the vehicle class, in order to reflect the different loads on the infrastructure caused by the weight and exhaust emissions of the vehicles.
READ ALSO:
- How the Greens want to replace Germany's €9 ticket
- What happens to Germany’s €9 ticket at the end of August?
The CEP calculated a surcharge of 6.9 cents per kilometre, however, there is currently an upper limit of four cents in Europe. The researchers suggest standardising the different toll systems that are used in European countries.
According to the study, revenue from the toll, amounting to around €12 billion, could initially be used to cover maintenance costs and to reduce the investment backlog in road transport. In this way, the acceptance of the levy among motorists could also be increased, the experts said.
However, the indirect consequential costs of car traffic, such as exhaust fumes and noise, should also be compensated. The report authors said the funds could therefore also used to expand public transport or to finance a permanent €9 ticket.
The ticket, which is valid in all public transport networks in Germany - including on regional trains - currently costs around €2.5 billion for three months.
The suggestion comes after an attempt to introduce a car toll in Germany that only foreign drivers would have paid because German drivers were to be reimbursed failed under the previous federal government. The European Court of Justice rejected it as discrimination against foreign drivers.
Tax excess profits of companies
Meanwhile, Social Democrat leader Lars Klingbeil has said a follow-up ticket to the €9 offer could be funded by an 'excess profits tax'.
"We have just seen that the €9 ticket makes sense, that it is accepted, that the citizens also want the extension," Klingbeil told the radio station NDR Info.
With the excess profits tax, he said, the financing of a successor model could also be pushed forward.
The excess profits tax is intended for companies that profit from the energy crisis without making any contribution of their own. In Britain, for example, oil and gas companies have to pay a temporary 25 per cent tax on their extra profits. In Germany's traffic light coalition, the Greens are also in favour of a supplementary tax, while the pro-business FDP rejects it.
FDP leader and Finance Minister Christian Lindner has repeatedly rejected an immediate follow-up to the €9 ticket, blaming finance woes.
At the weekend Lindner slammed the "freebie mentality" surrounding the ticket, and said continuing it with funding from the government wouldn't be fair anyway.
"People in the countryside who don't have a train station nearby and depend on the car would subsidise cheap local transport," he said. "I don't think that's fair,"
READ ALSO:
- 'Foreigner toll' on German Autobahn network ruled illegal by EU court
- What you need to know about Austria's vignette motorway toll stickers
Vocabulary
Car toll - (die) Pkw-Maut
Local transport - (der) Nahverkehr
Revenue - (die) Einnahmen
Freebie mentality - (die) Gratismentalität
We’re aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.