Too late, too expensive and a downgrade in some points – but the federal government and the federal states have agreed on a Germany-wide semester ticket. After one semester without a ticket, there might be some hope for 35,000 students at TU Berlin. In order to have a semester ticket within the full-solidarity model again in the future, the vote of all students is now necessary
MOST IMPORTANT:
We are currently preparing a survey on the semester ticket, which will take place in the second half of January 2024. The details of the survey and information about the ticket will follow in the coming days/weeks. You can find them here at https://asta.tu-berlin.de/en/semester-ticket/ and on our social media channels.
We are also currently preparing our own website about the semester ticket and the survey.
It is essential that the majority of TU students will vote in for the ticket in the survey! In addition, at least 10% of the all students at the TU must vote in favor, otherwise the survey won’t count.
So be sure to share the information with your fellow students.
We call on all TU Berlin students to actively participate in the semester ticket survey in January 2024!
Because without the necessary votes for the Germany-wide semester ticket in the survey in January, there will be no semester ticket in the summer semester 2024!
At the end of November, the federal and state governments gave their official political vote in favor of a Germany-wide semester ticket based on the full solidarity model. However, this was not a decision on a semester ticket for all students in Germany, but simply a recommendation to the transport associations (in Berlin the VBB) and students (at TU Berlin represented by us as AStA) to start negotiations. The semester ticket is supposed be offered at 60% of the price of the Deutschlandticket. Currently, the Germany-wide semester ticket in the solidarity model is priced €29.40 per month/€176.40 per semester. Bicycle transport will no longer be possible for Berlin-ABC. We are trying to negotiate to get a bicycle transport without additional costs at a later time.
The semester ticket is to return to the full solidarity model, i.e. all students are obliged to pay for the ticket. According to the Berliner Hochschulgesetz (Berlin Higher Education Act), reasons for exemption will once again be taken into account. The solidarity model will again allow applications for subsidies for the semester ticket.
The political declaration of intent was not a contractual offer, which is why the student representations in Germany now face major challenges in making a semester ticket possible for the 2024 summer semester: We have to follow the university’s re-registration deadline, we also have to follow our own budget planning in consultation with TU Berlin and we have to conduct a survey of students at TU Berlin.
We as AStA of TU Berlin and the Verkehrsausschuss (transport committee) of the student parliament, have been working at high pressure to find a good solution for a semester ticket.
The most important points of criticism of the current offer and facts about the survey are summarized here:
- The price stability of the semester ticket is currently not planned. The ticket will cost €29.40 per month for the summer semester, which is 60% of the price of the Deutschlandticket. If the price for the Deutschlandticket increases, the price of the semester ticket will also increas
- VBB categorically rejects the free bicycle transport in the ABC area. This was possible with the old semester ticket
- An exemption from the semester ticket for students who are covered by the Sozialticket Berlin AB for €9 is excluded by the VBB. These students have significantly higher mobility costs
- The ticket is still too expensive. In contrast to other groups, students benefit significantly less from the discounted Deutschlandticket
- It is primarily the transport companies who are benefiting from this deal, which secures profits for them! The federal and state governments themselves write in Annex 1 of the Verkehrsministerkonferenz-Beschlussvorlage (draft resolution of the Conference of Transport Ministers): “All scenarios without a nationwide solidarity model are significantly below the status quo revenue and significantly below the revenue of a nationwide solidarity model for €29.40”
Despite our criticism of the procedere and conditions made towards the federal and state governments, the Berlin Senate and the VBB, we as the AStA and student parliament of TU Berlin welcome and hope to be able to return to the semester ticket in the solidarity model.
However, this decision is up to you and the VBB’s contract offer!
Keep yourself regularly informed on our website and our AStA social media channels!