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9-Euro-Ticket

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Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#411

Post by krrrh »

kappuchino wrote: post #127

For anyone wondering why 9€? Not 10€ or 15€ or ... - its consistent with 101 consumer psychology. First: Its not free, its subsidized by the state. Free would suggest for some "not worth it". Not you, most likely, but this is why some free offers are not taken (seriously). If you want to see what free does, look for the Luxemburg experient: https://www.mobiliteit.lu/en/tickets/free-transport/ Second: Higher price poi…

One interesting thing about the Berlin metro system (which is covered by this pass) is that it is one of the few metro transit systems that is nearly or fully supported through ticket fees. I can't find a reference for this at the moment, but it was something people talked about when I lived there.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#412

Post by Reason077 »

NicoJuicy wrote: post #351
Toutouxc wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Related: We're a Czech couple, currently planning our vacation in the Netherlands, and we too are on a very tight budget. I wanted so bad to get there by train and spend the week there riding Dutch trains all over the place, but man, the train journey there and back is just as long as a car trip (~10-12 hours) and costs at least twice as much. Looks like we'll be taking our 50 MPG car instead and since it will be the…

Prague - Amsterdam by bus 13:30 hours - 120 € Look up Flixbus. It's slow, but cheap.

You could also buy this €9 ticket, go to a Czech border town, and take DB trains all the way to the Netherlands.

For example, you could do Decin (Czech) to Glanerbrug (Netherlands) in 12.5 hours with only 7 changes, all on RB/RE and S-Bahn trains.

Of course, that's still going to be a long journey, but you can break it up anywhere you want and stay at cheap hotels in random German towns along the way that you otherwise would never have considered visiting!

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#413

Post by the_only_human »

Archelaos wrote: post #340
trompetenaccoun wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First thing I thought of even though I never heard of this example: It's a terrible idea if you think about it with an economic mind. There are very few scenarios where making things "free" can actually provide a long term benefit for the public. The reason Communist economies don't work isn't because there's not enough wealth in society to guarantee a modest income for everyone. It's because once you take the incent…

> there's not enough wealth in society to guarantee a modest income for everyone One should notice that there a no Communist economies anymore in Europe for more than 30 years. Democratic wellfare states provide in my opinion the best balance between individual incentives and social responsibility. I would argue that a lot of state-managed sectors in various European countries work a lot better than in the US (health…

China.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#414

Post by widerporst »

rad_gruchalski wrote: post #403
widerporst wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you travel and commute? By car? If so, millions of Germans who don't own a care are funding your means of transport.

I will keep that in mind next time I am staring at the rear of a diesel bus while stuck in traffic.

I know you're being facetious, but yes. Public transport is cheaper per person per kilometer than cars. Gasoline and motor vehicle taxes are very low in comparison to the cost of road maintenance and environmental and societal effects of individual transport, so you're indeed profiting off of tax money.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#415

Post by not2b »

steven_pack wrote: post #367
MandieD wrote: post #51

Very important caveat for all of you who are thinking, “woo hoo, no need to buy that EuRail pass! Or to buy an expensive ICE ticket!” These tickets are good for all “Nah- und Regionalverkehr,” explicitly excluding ICE, IC, EC (international) and long-distance busses (like the one between Munich and Zürich) If the train number begins with RE or RB, you’re good, but of course, those are the slow ones that stop in every…

Did this 20 years ago, it was called Schoeneswochenende Fahrkarte "Good weekend" ticket. You could get all over the country, but real slow. I met loads of people and got invited to people's homes, because they didn't typically see an Aussie backpacker on a local train. Great times, go do it.

Yes, did that also. I live in California, but at the time my company had a group in Aachen that I worked with and I visited about four times a year. I often played tourist on the weekend and took trains all over the Rhineland. I used the cheap weekend ticket several times. But I usually didn't go that far, given my time constraints.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#416

Post by nottorp »

LosWochosWeek wrote: post #350
ivan_gammel wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s say you have an appointment at location 15 minutes away from train station at 9:00 and your train arrives at 7:45. You will have to wait for 1 hour and probably spend this time unproductively and maybe even at extra cost (e.g. you choose to get a cup of coffee and a sandwich in a restaurant nearby).

Yeah, if you plan your appointment at a place 300km away willy nilly without checking the train schedule and if you plan your car drive in a way that you dont plan for any congestions leaving Hamburg, on the Autobahn, entering Berlin (good luck!), then yeah: The car is more expensive, more tiring, and slower. But get this: Instead of having an hour you can spend at your destination to your liking, you get to use that…

I believe the OP who started this is not familiar with public transport travel.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#417

Post by mariusor »

MarkusWandel wrote: post #310

This is fantastic. Despite the warnings to not count on it, these local trains generally will transport your bicycle. So you can go for a bike ride some distance from your home location (or from your home location and return by train if you don't feel like riding back). Practically for free.

When you take your bicycle on public transport usually you require a special ticket for it.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#418

Post by rad_gruchalski »

bromuro wrote: post #384
rad_gruchalski wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> First: Its not free, its subsidized by the state. „The state“ doesn’t have its „own money“. It is subsided by the taxpayer.

And where does the taxpayer money come from? :) The state (or in this case the european central bank) owns and distribuites the money, then the tax payers give it back.

ECB does not issue funds to individual countries. It does so only to stabilise the economy which is moving funds from one place to another. Eventually, by creating debt.

But on point. ECB manufactures banknotes. As in, it prints them and hands over to individual countries. ECB is owned by central banks of all 27 countries.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/educational/explainers/tell-me...

Taxpayers money comes from the work they execute. For example, when I do a contract for someone, I get paid for the service I did. If I don’t do the work, I don’t get paid and “the state” doesn’t give me anything. Furthermore, if I do a lot of work in a year and the next year I have a misfortune of falling ill and can’t sustain working, I’m screwed because “the state” wants its share in case of future profits, and just takes it from my account leaving me with a hole. “The state” doesn’t care.

I remember such a conversation I had once with a representative of “the state”: “you don’t have our money?”, to which my immediate thought was “yeah, because we were sitting nights together trying delivering those projects”.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#419

Post by rad_gruchalski »

widerporst wrote: post #414
rad_gruchalski wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will keep that in mind next time I am staring at the rear of a diesel bus while stuck in traffic.

I know you're being facetious, but yes. Public transport is cheaper per person per kilometer than cars. Gasoline and motor vehicle taxes are very low in comparison to the cost of road maintenance and environmental and societal effects of individual transport, so you're indeed profiting off of tax money.

To which I’m also contributing by driving myself. Those roads aren’t built for my pleasure of driving to the office. They also serve crucial role in supply chains.

In fact, those buses are on exactly on those same roads. The existence of those roads facilities convenient public transportation.

Re: 9-Euro-Ticket

#420

Post by SoftTalker »

IMTDb wrote: post #337
smlacy wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what "Wait at location because there was no better train" means? Are you massuming a 3h40m trip for a specific time-based appointment? I think the use case of this kind of train is more similar to a flight with one or more nights at destination, so that the specific arrival time is not that important.

> I think the use case of this kind of train is more similar to a flight with one or more nights at destination, so that the specific arrival time is not that important. OP was explicitly comparing car and trains, not flight and trains. If that's the case, then we are more in the context of a "city trip", and Hamburg -> Berlin might not be the most representative case. Something along the line of Hamburg -> Rome is m…

> Most cargo revenue come from transporting freight in the holds of passenger jets.

Is this really true? DHL, FedEx, and UPS (and Amazon?) all operate their own freight aircraft. There are also contract freight operators. Most major airports have an entire area that is exclusively for freight operations.

Yes some freight does go in the holds of passenger jets, but is it "most" or even close?

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