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Berlin Mulls Mandatory Bus Tickets to Get Cars Off the Streets

  • Citizen’s ticket is one of the proposals to finance transport
  • City’s goal is to encourage people to stop from driving
Passengers use a back entrance of a bus in Berlin on March 13.

Passengers use a back entrance of a bus in Berlin on March 13.

Photographer: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images 

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Berlin is considering requiring that residents pay for an annual pass for public transport to make cars less attractive and help ease congestion.

The proposal for a so-called Buergerticket (citizen’s pass) could cost residents as much as a current annual subscription of 761 euros ($862) a year, according to the city’s Transport and Environment Ministry. Alternative proposals, based on a feasibility study by consultancy Ramboll, include charging tourists a public-transport tax, tolls to drive cars in the city center and higher parking fees.