PETITION TO SAVE THE SEMESTERTICKET
SAVE THE SEMESTER TICKET! We call for an improvement to student mobility. Our demands: a ticket that’s no more than 129 euros per semester, with a nationwide validity, starting from 1 May!
We, the student unions in NRW, demand a solidarity-financed semester ticket with Germany-wide validity at a price of 129 euros per semester, building on the 49-euro-ticket and with a starting date of 1 May 2023.
Our arguments:
- The semester ticket as a solidarity model must be preserved! This is the best way of guaranteeing affordable mobility for all students, because at the moment the semester ticket is cheaper than comparable tickets by a factor of ten.
- The federal and state governments have proposed an upgrade model in which students would have to pay the difference between the semester ticket and the 49-euro-ticket in order to travel throughout Germany using the semester ticket. However, this would mean that studentswould still have to pay 35 euros for their NRW-wide ticket, while holders of a job ticket can travel throughout Germany for a maximum of 35 euros a month. That is unfair!
- The upgrade model is also legally questionable. It jeopardises the continuation of the semester ticket, but abolishing the semester ticket would make mobility much more expensive for students!
- The 129-Euro-Ticket does not require any additional subsidies, as the price advantage – as before – is largely due to the solidarity financing!
- The introduction during the summer semester is possible: we proved that much when we dealt with the ramifications of the 9-euro-ticket. Therefore, there is nothing to prevent the introduction of the ticket in the middle of the semester or the refunding of semester fees that were paid in advance.
A Germany-wide, solidarity-financed semester ticket on 1 May is still possible – if it is made a priority in politics! Help us with your signature to finally get the politicians to act!
But… Is it fair that students only pay 129 euros per semester for mobility throughout Germany?
Yes.
Since the semester ticket is only possible thanks to a solidarity model in which all students pay the same amount – regardless of how much the individual person uses the ticket – it would become legally difficult to justify that students have to keep paying the same price as before, now that the “normal” tickets have become more affordable.
Currently, students in NRW pay 35 euros a month for NRW-wide mobility. In order to combine the 49-euro-ticket and the semester ticket, an upgrade model has been proposed by the Bund-Länder-AG: from 1 May, students should be able to pay the difference between the semester ticket and the 49-euro-ticket and thus upgrade their ticket to a Germany-wide validity.
Why is this not a good idea?
The upgrade model is UNFAIR!
With the proposed upgrade model, students will continue to pay 35 euros a month for a NRW ticket – the same amount that employees will pay in future for their job ticket, which is valid throughout Germany.
The upgrade model is LEGALLY CONTENTIOUS!
According to current assessments, the upgrade model is not legally permissible. As a result, legal proceedings are to be expected and the abolition of the semester ticket could be the consequence. The legality of solidarity-financed semester tickets has been justified by the Federal Constitutional Court and the Federal Administrative Court of Germany, among other things, on the grounds that the burden on individual students is low compared to the great advantage it brings to the student body as a whole. This is no longer the case with a solidarity contribution of 35 euros per month on average for the NRW semester ticket compared to the 49-euro-ticket.
The abolition of the semester ticket would mean that mobility for students would become significantly more expensive – this contradicts the goal of the 49-euro-ticket. In other words, without a semester ticket, students would not even be able to use public transport throughout NRW for 35 euros a month.
A nationwide solidarity ticket starting in the WINTER SEMESTER IS TOO LATE!
Although the Bund-Länder-AG – in line with our demand – is proposing a solidarity ticket valid throughout Germany in the long term, NRW should not wait until all the federal states have agreed on a solidarity model and should not introduce the legally questionable and unfair upgrade model for students as a transitional measure. After all, the basic idea of the 49-euro ticket is easy-to-use and affordable public transport for all people.
ROLE MODEL 9-EURO-TICKET
The introduction of the 9-euro-ticket in the middle of the semester and the refunding of semester fees paid in excess worked smoothly last year. The procedures have already been tried and tested! Therefore, the only thing standing in the way of introducing a Germany-wide solidarity ticket for students in NRW on 1 May is politics!
The solidarity model requires NO ADDITIONAL SUBSIDIES!
The semester ticket is currently purchased by all student bodies in NRW as a major customer from the public transport companies. The low price does not come from subsidies or grants, but from the solidarity model in which all students pay the same contribution for the ticket – regardless of how often the individual uses the ticket. So far, this has made it possible for the semester ticket to be cheaper than comparable tickets by a factor of about ten.
What about apprentices, pupils and other young people?
Pitting different groups against each other is not the way to go! The semester ticket shows that cheap, socially beneficial and sustainable mobility is possible for everyone. This achievement should not be put at risk but should be used as a model for other user groups.