As part of the current budget negotiations between the CDU and SPD in the Berlin state government, around 660 million euros are to be saved from the budget of the Senate Department for Mobility, Transport and the Environment. This corresponds to approximately 18.5 per cent of the budget of transport senator Ute Bonde (CDU) and represents the largest savings item.
The cuts in the transport and environmental sectors will result in at least 100 million euros less being spent on local public transport in the city centre and on new construction projects. The planned cancellation of the state subsidy for the purchase of electric buses by the BVG is particularly serious. This subsidy of almost 100 million euros will mean that the originally planned conversion of the bus fleet to electric drive by 2030 will probably not be realisable. It is currently expected that all new purchases of electric buses will be put on hold for the time being. There are currently 228 electric buses in operation in Berlin, out of a total fleet of around 1,600 buses, with a further 50 electric buses from a framework agreement for up to 344 vehicles to be delivered by Solaris in the coming months.
In addition, funding for the expansion of the tram line from Alexanderplatz to the Kulturforum and for an extension from Johannisthal to Gropiusstadt is also to be cancelled. Savings will also be made in the areas of cycling and road safety as well as civil engineering.
As far as the 29-Euro Ticket is concerned – which has been offered as a low-cost monthly ticket for Berlin residents alongside the current 49-euro ticket at federal level – a price increase to 39 euros was initially discussed. In the end, however, the CDU and SPD agreed to abolish the ticket completely. This will lead to a further reduction in the state budget of around 300 million euros. The effects on the existing reduced-price social ticket have yet to be finalized, the price is expected to rise to 19 euros, while the school ticket will remain free.
