Germany green-lights €49 monthly public transport ticket

Germany's federal and state governments agreed on Friday to introduce a planned €49 ($52) monthly public transport ticket on May 1, although the European Union is yet to give its final approval for the measure.
"What many wish for will become reality on May 1," said the chairman of the Conference of Transport Ministers, Oliver Krischer, on Friday after the meeting of the working group.
Sales of the nationwide ticket for regional buses and trains are set to start on April 3, he said. Not only had progress been made on these issues, "but final agreement had been reached on the really important points," Krischer said.
However, the agreement is subject to the European Commission's approval. The EU competition watchdog is currently reviewing whether it breaches state aid laws.
According to Krischer, the federal and state governments also reached an agreement on the so-called job ticket, which employers will be able to purchase at a 5% discount, as long as they then pass it on to their employees with a discount of at least 25%.
According to dpa information, no agreement was reached on whether the ticket would be available in digital form only. Transport Minister Volker Wissing is aiming for an exclusively digital ticket.
However, the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) recently demanded that transport associations must be able to issue paper tickets, at least for the time being. According to the VDV, not all transport associations have the possibility to offer digital tickets.