The Chatter Over a 365-Euro Yearly Railway Ticket

There is this idea out there....over the establishment of a railway/bus ticket across the German landscape, for 365-Euro per year (yes, roughly 1 Euro per day).

The SPD Party is pushing the agenda on this, and hyping this as a major plus-up against climate change.

So you might stand there and ask....financially.....does this work?  The short and simple answer?  No.  You, the customer would pay the 365-Euro, and then some tax would have to click 'on', with the government finding a vast amount of money to cover the rest of the 'check'.  But if you were naive or stupid enough....you'd never get to the 'rest of the check' part of this story.

Isn't there a couple areas already working with the 365-Euro ticket?  Several areas have this in place for students/intern workers.  And yes, those government (mostly suburban and metropolitan areas) are taking tax revenue to accomplish the feat.

The comment that this is some kind of fundamental 'right'?  That's also an amusing comment to make, and usually made by SPD enthusiasts.  If you go to the German constitution....there's nothing there that really connects to you having the fundamental right to cheap railway travel, or bus transportation.

But why stop there?  Even if the 365-Euro ticket existed across Germany....would it fundamentally change people, and cause them to quit driving their cars?  So far, no reliable polling data can say that this would trigger some massive change.  I might go and agree that in some urban areas, like Hamburg, Frankfurt, or Berlin....you might see 10-percent of drivers attempt to make this work.  But beyond the mega-urbanized areas....I just don't see the bulk of people finding this as a workable option. 

Will the 365-Euro deal pass via the coalition government (CDU-CSU-SPD)?  Some folks are suggesting that the SPD is prioritizing this to a top three-issue.  There's supposed to be a meeting around the 20th of September, and this gets presented to a coalition committee.   The CDU folks will ask....where does the tax revenue come from for the rest of the bill, and the SPD folks will stand there and mostly grin.