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Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

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Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#61

Post by timeon »

tempaccount1234 wrote: post #20
TekMol wrote: post #7

The problem is that in Germany, the city-to-city trains that can be used with this ticket do not have WIFI IIRC. Can anybody confirm this? Traveling time without WIFI is a much higher burden to me than normal traveling time, where I can work on my projects. I actually like working on the train. It is a nice environment. But without that possibility, long train rides are a chore to me. And it will be interesting to se…

Mobile data usually works fine in German regional trains. But if you want trips longer than 2 hours, you probably want the higher speed trains anyway (which now might have less annoying poor people in them) What’s more annoying is that the price - in regions without good public transportation it’s actually too expensive, but it’s a nice gift to big city dwellers.

> annoying poor people

> annoying is that the price ... too expensive

>.>

Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#62

Post by Hasnep »

BasedGroyper99 wrote: post #31
thanatos519 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more: Public transport is a public good which should be funded by fossil fuel taxes and provided to users without cost.

Why is it a public good? It only benefits the individuals who are travelling. If I take the train to visit my sister, I don't see how that is in the public's interest.

By that logic, why is anything a public good? If I drink water from a public water fountain why is that in the public's interest?

Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#63

Post by 3D30497420 »

bahnkenner wrote: post #43

The biggest advantage of the new Germany-wide ticket is not the price, but rather that it simplifies things. This is a map of German public transit companies: [0]. I've heard the current fractured system be compared to the Holy Roman Empire. Every little region has its own ticketing system. If you arrive in a new city, you have to figure out how to buy local transit tickets, often with quite complicated rules (e.g.,…

A good example of this complexity is Berlin. Many people have monthly passes for just A and B zones, which comprise the bulk of central Berlin. However, the new airport is just over the border in zone C, which requires an additional ticket. The transit authority knows this and will catch and fine people who neglected or forgot to buy a B to C ticket.

Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#64

Post by danaris »

BasedGroyper99 wrote: post #31
thanatos519 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more: Public transport is a public good which should be funded by fossil fuel taxes and provided to users without cost.

Why is it a public good? It only benefits the individuals who are travelling. If I take the train to visit my sister, I don't see how that is in the public's interest.

This is a very individualistic and American view of what a "public good" should be.

Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#65

Post by 3D30497420 »

busymom0 wrote: post #41

Can this have the potential of having the MoviePass type outcome? Also, wouldn’t this overcrowd public transit?

Certainly that's a risk, but I'd hope they've done some projections on it.

I'm not all that worried that this will cause overcrowding since I'd wager many people who bought the first round of tickets are just transferring over their current local subscription to the national one. Both my wife and I did that for example.

It is worth noting that this ticket is 10€ cheaper than our prior subscription, which I expect will result in a solid bit less revenue for the regional transit authorities. With a system that's already straining from under-investment, hopefully this doesn't compound already existing problems.

Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#66

Post by camillomiller »

Berlin reporting: this is huge for anyone taking public transport. Monthly ticket for the AB area alone was way above 80/€/month for the city only. This is 49 for everything anywhere in Germany except for high speed long distance trains, flixbuses and flixtrains (the latter are private entities)

Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#67

Post by redprince »

hannob wrote: post #37
bleep_bloop wrote: post #2

Controversial opinion: Public transport should be publicly owned.

It's not really controversial in Germany, and largely the case. The problems lie elsewhere. IMHO there are two major problems with public transport in Germany. One is underfunding, which causes a lack of reliability, and plenty of lines that are overused. The second is complexity. Each local transport association has its own ticketing system, and they really like to make them complicated. The 49 euro ticket is a step…

> It's not really controversial in Germany, and largely the case.

Well... sort of, but the incentives are broken. Simplified version of what has happened so far: In 1994 the Deutsche Bundesbahn was fused with the eastern Reichbahn and converted into the Deutsche Bahn AG. The German state is the owner of this company but the corporation is run as it were publicly traded. Getting it onto the stock market at least in part was a goal but the last attempt was scrapped after the 2007 financial crisis.

The results of privatization were quite destructive though. In an attempt to make the Deutsche Bahn AG more profitable, cost cutting measures were implemented. The led to a sharp decline of rail transport service in rural areas. Furthermore expensive railway switches on main lines were dramatically reduced in numbers, hampering the ability to route traffic around disturbances on a track. The rest of the infrastructure is less maintained and more likely to be run until it wears out. People have accused the Deutsche Bahn AG that they are skimping on maintenance as a cost saving measure, because new construction to replace broken infrastructure will be paid by the state, but maintenance is not and thus cutting into the profits.

The DB AG has been mismanaged for at least 30 years and it shows. If I had one wish, I'd really would like to see the DB AG aspiring to the punctuality and general quality of service offered by the Swiss Federal Railways.

Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#68

Post by calaphos »

bahnkenner wrote: post #43

The biggest advantage of the new Germany-wide ticket is not the price, but rather that it simplifies things. This is a map of German public transit companies: [0]. I've heard the current fractured system be compared to the Holy Roman Empire. Every little region has its own ticketing system. If you arrive in a new city, you have to figure out how to buy local transit tickets, often with quite complicated rules (e.g.,…

For regular commuters the price is a big deal. Not only where tickets crossing multiple zones complicated to get but also unreasonably expensive (~200Eur/Month). In contrast the 49 Euros is less expensive than (almost?) any single zone monthly ticket out there.

Re: Millions snap up new Germany-wide public transit ticket

#70

Post by matthewmacleod »

timellis-smith wrote: post #9
bleep_bloop wrote: post #2

Controversial opinion: Public transport should be publicly owned.

Theres a really interesting graph showing rail usage under both public and private ownership in GB. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/GB... I'll let you draw your own conclusions From this page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail

Nobody should be drawing any conclusions from a graph like that, since it provides no useful information allowing anyone to draw any conclusion about anything.

If you do choose to draw a conclusion from this, you’re doing nothing except reinforcing whatever bias you may already have.

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