Germany’s 9-Euro Ticket: Impact of a Cheap Public Transport Ticket on Mobility Patterns and Infrastructure Quality
BIG-DATA-BASED ECONOMIC INSIGHTS
Key Messages
- The 9-Euro Ticket increased public transport use but hardly shifted away from car travel
- Train use surged for leisure activities; car use dropped least among commuters
- The 9-Euro Ticket led to overcrowding, delaying both regional and non-covered long-distance trains
- A rough calculation indicates that the fuel discount minimally impacted our estimates
- High costs, low car-to-train shift, and train delays call for other decarbonization strategies
Abstract
While the 9-Euro Ticket (the temporarily introduced low-cost, nationwide public transport ticket in Germany) has been successful in increasing public transport use, it has not been very effective in encouraging a significant shift from car to public transport.
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Citation
Mario Liebensteiner, Jakob Losert, Sarah Necker, Florian Neumeier, Jörg Paetzold and Sebastian Wichert: "Germany’s 9-Euro Ticket: Impact of a Cheap Public Transport Ticket on Mobility Patterns and Infrastructure Quality," EconPol Forum 26 (1), CESifo, Munich, 2025.