Berlin – Even if there are complaints from time to time: The fare system for Berlin’s local transport is considered to be fairly simple. Either you buy a ticket that is valid at least in the entire city area – or the distance is so short that a short-haul ticket is sufficient. There is nothing in between. But the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) is looking for ways to change that. Because thanks to modern technology, it would actually be possible to differentiate fares significantly more than before according to distance. BVG boss Eva Kreienkamp is now proposing to try out a new system. “I can imagine that there will also be tariffs that depend on the distance in Berlin and Brandenburg,” said the chairwoman of the board of directors to the Berliner Zeitung. “You have to look closely and then examine it in pilot projects.”
Berliners have got used to the standard tariff over decades. The rough classification is simple and easy to understand. But it can also be seen as unjust. Why should someone who takes the S-Bahn from Alexanderplatz to the zoo in 13 minutes always pay as much as someone who travels from the Spandau district of Kladow in the extreme south-west to Buch in the extreme north-east of Berlin for almost 80 minutes?
Better serve different user groups
The BVG tariff planners keep an eye on these and other issues. Kreienkamp emphasized that it was clear to the state-owned company that it was not operating in a vacuum. Nothing will change in the cooperation with the Senate and the Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association, VBB for short. “Local transport tariffs are a highly regulated area, and that is the right thing to do. In the future, too, we must always offer binding simple access to the system, ”said the BVG boss. “But it is also clear that we have to serve our various user groups better than before.”
From their point of view, it is also correct that the time has come for experiments: “We will be talking more intensely than before with the VBB about experimental forms of tariffs.” Whether kilometer prices or time tariffs where tickets are only valid for certain periods of time: “Such things have to be we actually take a closer look, ”says Kreienkamp. A number of things are already being tried out in other parts of Germany. “We are still a little cautious about that. I hope that we will also make progress in this area, ”said the BVG CEO. With the help of apps, new types of tariff models can now be implemented relatively easily.
24 cents per kilometer: with the Eezy app through western Germany
“The aim is to make it easier for many people to use local transport,” explained Kreienkamp. Passengers outside of Berlin should also benefit from this, where a different, more detailed system applies. “Brandenburger report that some things are impractical in their tariff system. Some things can no longer be explained. ”Other concepts would be needed.
Local transport users already have a choice in North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to the existing tariff system for buses and trains, the Eezy app has been available since the beginning of this month, which is linked to another system – and helps save. This is an electronic tariff that can only be used with a smartphone. There, billing is based on kilometers – more precisely, according to the straight line between start and finish.
This is how it works: Before every journey, the passenger checks in, after which the app displays a digital journey authorization. At the destination, the passenger checks out again. The Eezy app calculates the fare, which is then deducted from the account. A basic price is charged for each trip: normally 1.60 euros, within the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR). In addition, there is the airline kilometer price: regular around 24 cents, in the VRR area it is 25 cents.
In many cases, passengers save money
“In many cases, the new eTarif is significantly cheaper,” says the information for users. An example: a trip from Düsseldorf to Neuss main station costs six euros according to the previous tariff. With the Eezy ticket it is only 3.50 euros. For comparison: In Berlin, the S-Bahn journey from Ostkreuz to Köpenick S-Bahn station covers a similar distance. Here a single ticket costs three euros. According to another calculation example, with Eezy between Cologne and Essen, only 15.15 euros would be due instead of 20.40. In the Berlin region, this trip would be comparable to a tour from Berlin-Heiligensee to Königs Wusterhausen. Here a ticket costs 3.80 euros.
Because the local transport companies in North Rhine-Westphalia expect that they will take less fare, the state has announced compensation payments totaling 100 million euros. Another note for Eezy users: “Within 24 hours, the travel costs in the eTarif are capped at 30 euros. Since all known, classic tariffs remain in place, bus and train journeys will not become more expensive for anyone. “
Big discounts for frequent travelers
The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), which includes Frankfurt am Main and parts of Hesse, is still experimenting with a kilometer tariff. There is great interest: It is said on the Internet that the targeted number of 30,000 test participants has been reached. Please do not apply anymore! RMVsmart: That is the name of the fare innovation based on the motto: You only pay for the distance that you actually travel.
Here, too, the app always calculates a basic price. For journeys with regional trains, S-Bahns and U-Bahns, there is also a distance price for the distance covered. If buses or trams are used, a flat rate is added – depending on the size of the towns and cities that are passed through. In order to give incentives to use public transport as often as possible, there are discounts. Either you pay ten euros and can drive for half of it for a month – or you use price reductions that increase significantly the more you drive. For example, if you reach a turnover of 60 euros, you will receive a 60 percent discount for the rest of the calendar month.
Berliner Fahrgastverband warns of fare increases
Eva Kreienkamp’s approach is not entirely new. The Berlin-Brandenburg transport association has already examined several times whether new tariff models would be sensible and practicable – without the ideas being pursued any further. Among other things, it was examined whether time-based tariffs would be possible to a greater extent than currently. A single Berlin ticket is currently valid for two hours. The VBB has already considered trying out an electronic tariff with billing that is accurate to the kilometer in Berlin. BVG had a similar idea in 2003. But in this case, too, no specific projects followed. The passenger association IGEB rejects both time-based and kilometer-based fares as “highly dangerous” because they would presumably cause higher costs for many Berliners. The current tariff system is simple and understandable, according to the association.
BVG boss Kreienkamp remains in her plea to supplement the tariff system. “People’s driving behavior has changed during the pandemic. So we have to ask ourselves how we deal with our tariff structure, ”she said. “There are good offers available for occasional and frequent drivers. But apart from the Flexticket, which will be introduced on January 1, 2022, we do not offer anything else between these poles. Therefore the Flexticket cannot be the end of the flagpole. We need a push for modernization. ”With the new ticket for 44 euros, you can use local transport in Berlin eight times within 30 days, each for 24 hours.
Bicycle transport included in the subscription price again?
Regular customers should also benefit from innovations. “One way could be to upgrade subscriptions and provide our subscribers with additional benefits,” said Kreienkamp. “That could mean that taking a bike with you is again included in the subscription price. Or that subscribers can rent e-scooters, bicycles and other vehicles at Jelbi stations at no extra charge. We will consider everything that increases customer benefit more intensively than before and, if it makes sense, expand it. “
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