Germany’s flat-rate transport ticket improves mobility and reduces emissions – govt evaluation
Clean Energy Wire
Germany’s monthly flat-rate ticket for all local and regional public transport services in the country reduces emissions and improves mobility for its 14.5 million subscribers, equivalent to a fifth of the population, according to a government evaluation.
While the number of users of the so-called “Deutschlandticket”, which currently costs 63 euros, fell year-on-year in 2025 amid price uncertainties, the report by the transport ministry noted a wider shift from private car use to public transport. An additional 5.8 million subscribers could be added to the system, primarily by targeting former subscribers, the report said.
Germany's transport sector faces a huge decarbonisation challenge, as it has consistently missed its climate targets. Experts agree that boosting public transport must play an important role in reducing emissions in the sector.
The Deutschlandticket improves mobility and social participation, especially for people on lower incomes, the evaluation said. Demand is highest in major cities, and the ticket continued to retain more occasional public transport users. The report estimates that the ticket reduces CO2 emissions by around 2.5 million tonnes per year, the equivalent of reducing car use by three percent.
“The Deutschlandticket is working,” transport minister Patrick Schnieder, a member of chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU, said. “It eases the burden on citizens, strengthens public transport and reduces CO₂ emissions. The task now is to further build on these positive effects.”
The report, based on data collected up until September 2025, is produced by the Institute of Applied Sciences (infas), and is the third of its kind to assess the Deutschlandticket’s outcomes in a process that began in 2024 and is set to run until at least 2027.
In their 2025 coalition agreement, the conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD) pledged to extend the Deutschlandticket beyond its current funding cycle and raise the share of user financing from 2029 onwards.
In March, the coalition approved its 2026 Climate Protection Programme detailing steps to get the country on track towards 2030 climate targets. A guarantee to extend the ticket until at least 2030 would save at least one million tonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent of 435 million litres of petrol or almost 10 million full tanks, the government said.