Subscription tickets for Hamburg which cost more than 49€ are now automatically reduced to 49€ and are changed to a Deutschlandticket.
Employer subsidized Deutschlandtickets can be reduced upto 50% for the employee.
Kids from low-income families get the Deutschlandticket for free.
Students can upgrade their public transport ticket for monthly 18 Euros...
School children pay 19 Euros monthly for the Deutschlandticket.
:-)
I wish most, if not all, of the world adopts the german style public transport system.
For a German pensioner, in many cases, this would represent more than 5% of post-rent living costs. For my girlfriend, a manager of a team of 16 people (in non-tech in Germany) it's more than 5% of her post-taxes, post-rent income.
€49/month is not trivial for a lot of working or retired Germans. GDP per capita in Germany is €46k/year, and after taxes and insurance (and rent! and that more than half of Germans that make less than that), €49/month is not a pittance.
These tickets are generally aimed at working class Germans, which often make 10-20% of a normal Silicon Valley salary.
I'm a suicidal burn out trying to drag my mind back from oblivion, I sure as shit am not on silicon valley money.
Also:
> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.
Your argument's a straw man, regardless of the fact that you're "trying to be constructive".
(And to be honest, the way you prefaced that statement had the feeling of "no offence, but...", it's a poor rhetorical practice.)
Germany has a long history of charging things at damned near administrative costs, 5% on transport just isn't a lot of money.
And also, 5% of "post-rent living costs"?
What's the percentage of overall income? Half of that? So low that your argument holds very little water.
Yeah, about that. Do you think most working class people are flippant about costs that take 2.5% of their pre-tax income?
I'm in favor of the €49/month ticket. It's a step forward. But I genuinely don't understand how (and it feels like some sort of cultural or social class disconnect) that seems trivial to people, and wonder if it's not being acclimatized to German non-tech incomes.
Anyway, I'm out - before this degrades into a meaningless flame war.
People with low-income (incl. seniors with low income) have a reduced price.