Duisburg (dpa / lnw) - North Rhine-Westphalia's Environment and Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (Greens) has rejected the SPD proposal for a successor solution for the 9-euro ticket, initially limited to NRW. "We will not make a NRW solution before some decision has been made in the federal government," he said on Friday at the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (Lanuv) in Duisburg. There is not enough money in the state budget for such a solution.
The SPD parliamentary group brought a monthly ticket for 30 euros into play on Thursday, with which NRW could initially go ahead on its own before a nationwide regulation. The 9-euro ticket expires at the end of August. According to the idea of SPD parliamentary group leader Thomas Kutschaty, the 30-euro monthly ticket could initially be valid in NRW and from January 1, 2023 nationwide. The question of a follow-up offer must be answered quickly.
"I find it very interesting that this proposal exists," said Krischer on Friday. So far he has not seen the budget funds in the NRW budget that could finance anything in the size of the 9-euro ticket from the state budget alone. The decision lies in Berlin. Krischer is promoting a two-stage model from the ranks of his party: a 29-euro monthly ticket for regions such as North Rhine-Westphalia and a nationwide valid 49-euro ticket.
As far as the state money is concerned, the first priority is to receive the offer, Krischer said. First you have to solve the challenge that there are deficits in the high millions in the transport companies - for example because of the exploding energy costs. Here, too, the federal government is required: the increase in regionalization funds announced in the traffic light coalition agreement has not yet been implemented.
