Well....to lay this out in simple fashion....NO.
The German gov't has come to some deal where there will be a 49-Euro bus/train monthly ticket that you can buy. Presently, the talk is that it'll start on 1 April, but some folks aren't that sure about the date.
As to the ticket really being 49-Euro? You, the consumer can buy it for 49 Euro. However, the system can't work on this 49 Euro budget....so the government is going dig out more than a billion Euro to cover the leftover cost. Some people (non-gov't types) even suggest that the end cost for each twelve months will stretch beyond 2-billion Euro.
So in certain terms....as you pay your taxes.....you are contributing to the 49-Euro ticket 'real' cost. How much more? No one can come to a decent factual number....but I'd take a guess it's probably in the 300 to 400 Euro per user range (per year).
Adding to this....a slight problem in that most users of the ticket, will be urban dwellers (the Bremen people, the Stuttgart folks, the crowd in Munch, etc). In more rural areas, it'll be less attractive.
Will this 49-Euro ticket convince folks to ditch the car and use the bus/Bahn deal? Well....the suggestion lays there. You can't find factual numbers to say 'yes' or 'no'. I approached my German wife on this, and it was a hard definite 'no'. The 40-minute ride in the car....if converted over to the bus/Bahn....would require around 70 minutes (each way). If I were guessing there....fewer than 20-percent of car-riders will ditch their present way of getting to work....even if you offer the 49-Euro ticket.
Who should buy the 49-Euro ticket? If you live in Germany or stationed here (as an American GI)....wanting to travel on weekends....it's an outstanding deal for spring and summer. I wouldn't buy it as a 12-month solution, but it makes sense for about six months out of the year in this scenario.
So I end this essay with the warning.....if the ticket isn't that successful, and the cost impact starts to reach 3 to 4 billion Euro a year....someone is going to ask stupid questions and this ticket will escalate in a couple of years to 89-Euro a month (my humble opinion).
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