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Ticket prices in Ditzingen: Heimerdinger pay more – local council hesitates!
Ditzingen is discussing ticket prices for local transport: Heimerdinger could bear higher costs. Municipal council decision pending.
Ticket prices in Ditzingen: Heimerdinger pay more – local council hesitates!
In nearby Ditzingen, a discussion about ticket prices in local public transport is causing unrest among citizens. A central point of contention is the question of whether Heimerdingers, who live in direct comparison with other Ditzingen districts, have to pay higher ticket prices. However, the local council decided to postpone the decision by a majority Stuttgart News report. A motion from the city calls for reversing the recently mentioned zone shift to ensure that Heimerdinger remains in the same tariff zone as the rest of Ditzinger.
Mayor Michael Makurath, who has no political party affiliation, abstained from the vote. In order to finance the changed tariffs, necessary compensation payments would be required to the Stuttgart Transport and Tariff Association (VVS). The administration has already started negotiating these compensation payments with the VVS. Since 2020, the city of Ditzingen has been making proportional payments to the VVS, which amount to around 32,000 euros per year. The administration also argues that the Germany ticket and the subsidized city ticket are only actually used by a few people.
Background on public transport financing
The financing of local public transport (ÖPNV) in Germany is complex and not very transparent, according to an analysis by Future mobility. The rising costs for personnel, fuel and operating materials as well as the maintenance costs of the infrastructure are increasingly leading to price increases, which are often met with incomprehension by passengers, but are usually accepted due to a lack of alternatives. User financing plays an important role, with the share of fare revenue often being higher in large cities, which leads to particularly high ticket prices in Stuttgart.
In the Stuttgart region there has been a new legal regulation since 2015, which has replaced over 150 agreements and 40 individual contracts between the Stuttgart Region Association, bus companies and the VVS districts. This led to ticket revenue from the VVS pot being distributed fairly, with the state of Baden-Württemberg supporting the integration of the Göppingen district into the VVS with around 8.18 million euros over a period of ten years, as stated on the official website of the Stuttgart region is presented.
The financial challenges faced by transport providers are enormous and require a discussion about alternative forms of financing. Proposals such as the introduction of local transport taxes or increasing the mineral oil tax are already being discussed in order to guarantee future-proof financing of public transport. Local public transport is essential for many people in the region and deserves greater political consideration.
The tense financial situation of many transport companies makes it necessary to discuss these issues in Ditzingen as part of budget consolidation. Whether and how a reform can succeed remains to be seen in the current context of the ongoing discussion about ticket prices.