Student plenary meeting

Dear fellow students,

We would like to invite you to the student general plenary meeting on Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 2 p.m. in the Audimax. The reason is that we want to talk to you about the future of the semester ticket. How a semester ticket can look like in times of the 49-Euro-Ticket, we want to discuss together as a student body.

To participate in the discussion, you must be present. Your lecturers must make it possible for you to participate in the student assembly, i.e. you must not suffer any disadvantage if you attend the event. If you have special needs (e.g. transcription in DGS), please contact vorsitz@asta.tu-dortmund.de.

A livestream via Zoom will be available during the event here:
https://tu-dortmund.zoom.us/j/96604259736?pwd=TlE0bzVaYTRNOG1hdWhzSkdrOTlxZz09

Background of the student plenary meeting on June, 15th, 2023:

We as a student body (all students of TU Dortmund University) have concluded the contract on the semester ticket via the student parliament and the AStA. The university regulates the technical provision of the ticket, but has nothing to do with its price and services. In general, the semester ticket was a very good deal for us students for a long time. Before the introduction of the Deutschlandticket, the 36.67€/month or 220.02€/semester was more than 80% cheaper than comparable, over-the-counter offers. That’s why the students have always been in favor of the ticket; in the last ballot in 2015, over 95% of all students wanted to keep the Semesterticket.

The 49-euro ticket, politically referred to as the “Deutschlandticket,” changes the starting position for the Semesterticket. The price difference to an over-the-counter, comparable ticket drops to 12.33€. This endangers the legitimacy of the semester ticket, since all students finance this on a solidarity basis. There is no option to “opt out” of the semester ticket. A legal opinion commissioned by us underlines the pressure to act, that something has to be done. The “upgrade solution” implemented so far, which turns the semester ticket into the Deutschlandticket by paying the difference, is not sufficient. The legal opinion for the law nerds among you can be found here:
https://latnrw.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Semesterticket_Rechtsgutachten.pdf

We as AStA have networked with other ASten, drawn the attention of politicians from the government and opposition to the problem, and spoken with the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (VRR) about solutions. Unfortunately, neither the state government nor the VRR offer a secure solution for the semester ticket as of the winter semester. That is why more pressure is needed. A cancellation of the semester ticket is under consideration, but would be a social catastrophe for many of our fellow students. A solution mentioned in the press, which would turn the semester ticket into the Deutschlandticket at a price of 29.40€/month, has not yet been decided. It would also lead to the loss of the bicycle and passenger transport in the VRR. Therefore, the situation is very complicated for us right now.

At the student assembly we want to discuss with you what is important to you about the ticket. How important is the ticket’s area of validity to you, how important are the transport regulations? What happens if the semester ticket is discontinued? How can we students create even more pressure? That’s why we need your participation! Come to the student assembly and bring your fellow students. Together we can show politics and the transport association that we students must not be overlooked when it comes to the Deutschlandticket!

Contact & Questions

If you have any questions about the event, the survey, or the topic in general, feel free to contact David Wiegmann (vorsitz@asta.tu-dortmund.de), Annika Ricke (finanzen@asta.tu-dortmund.de), or Darius Weitekamp (internationales@asta.tu-dortmund.de), who are currently organizing the event!