Price for Deutschlandticket: bdo sharply criticizes VMK decision

The Federal Association of German Bus Companies (bdo) has sharply criticized yesterday's decision by the Transport Ministers' Conference (VMK) on the Germany ticket – the problems have not been solved, but merely postponed. On January 22, 2024, the VMK had agreed not to adjust the price of 49 euros. Without a price adjustment, however, the main problem of the nationwide valid local transport ticket remains unsolved. The Germany ticket is still not adequately funded. At the same time, the so-called "additional payment obligation" is missing. The responsible authorities, especially the municipalities, thus have no guarantee that the revenue shortfalls caused by the Germany ticket will be compensated. 

"The forecasts are clear. Without a price adjustment, up to 2 billion euros will be missing for the Germany ticket in 2025. Accordingly, the ticket price will have to rise significantly next year to compensate for the deficit," says bdo Managing Director Christiane Leonard.

Every reasonably managed company, according to Leonard, would pull the ripcord with such numbers and initiate a moderate price adjustment. Customers are threatened with a price shock next year. Whether the Deutschlandticket can even survive under these circumstances is, from the perspective of the industry association, the decisive question. If the ticket becomes more expensive than the predicted 4 billion euros in 2024, the contractors will be left to bear the costs, because the so-called obligation to make additional payments will continue to be excluded. Yet a solution, from the bdo's perspective, would be quite simple: the states would only need to mandate the tariff. However, most states do not do this and refuse to take on the risk.

“Without a compensation guarantee, many contractors will have to opt out of the ticket. Thus, the Deutschlandticket would be history.”

The industry association sees a bleak future and is convinced that the federal and state governments will "surely argue again over the financing of the ticket over the course of the year." The consequence would then be that the Deutschlandticket would once again get bad press and people’s disillusionment with politics would further increase.