That’s unfortunately the exact wrong way to look at it.

The entire point of this ticket was to be cheap enough so a lot of new people get it, but don’t use it that often - a bit like a voluntary tax, that subsidizes the ticket for those who actually need it.

There’s a reason the regular monthly tickets are much more expensive - they cover the actual costs. If only commuters buy the ticket, public transit providers will make massive losses - and opt out of the ticket.

I’m 80% sure, this is a move to effectively kill the Deutschlandticket. The one good thing our current government managed to get done.

To add on to what the other person said, this is very likely a targeted move to kill the ticket and mock the people that want it. Before it got renamed, it was called the 49€-Ticket, which followed in the footsteps of Corona-time 9€-Ticket, which allowed people to use all regional transport for nine bucks a month. It was hugely successful. When Corona stimuli were cut, it got replaced with what we have now. Since then, a lot of people have demanded to bring back a permanent 9€-Ticket.

The transportation minister, Volker Wissing from the right-wing, corrupt, neoliberal FDP instead announces he’s going to raise the price, by… 9€. This is just a spit in the face of everyone wishing for affordable transit

In the Boston area, a T (metro) pass is $90, and commuter rail (regional, with access to some metro areas in surrounding states) ranges from $214-426/month. So this looks like a steal to me.

It’s also significantly cheaper than owning a vehicle, (though obviously, a vehicle will take you door-to-door anywhere, doesn’t expose you to inclement weather, and can haul cargo, so it’s not an exact comparison).

In the US, a person averages about 42 miles of travel a day:

And the average aggregate cost per mile in the US of a (new) vehicle is 54.56¢/mile for a small sedan to 86.21¢/mile for a large pickup.

Figure 30 days to a month, and that’s ~$687/month for the small sedan to $1086/month for the large pickup.

At current exchange rates, 58 EUR is ~$64.50; less than a tenth as much, if you can get around just via transit covered by said ticket.

I’m still doing hybrid work, going to the office 3 times a week in Sydney. I pay the equivalent of €66 a month. If I was doing full time in the office it would be €110 a month. I would also love a €58 euro monthly ticket.

Not really. The 9€ ticket was an emergency measure for 3 months. It’s the soft version of car free sundays.

But since it was so successful, it got turned into a more permanent scheme. 9€ for a whole month of basically free travel was not sustainable, so 49€ was the compromise.