Imagine the financial barrier to public transport use disappears. The impact of the 9-Euro-Ticket on the mobility and social participation of low-income households with children
- Highlights • Investigates the effect of a nearly fare-free public transport ticket. • In-depth analysis of the 9-Euro-Ticket using qualitative empirical research. • Low-income people's mobility and social participation benefits from affordable PT. • This study reveals six main findings of interest for policy and practice. From June to August 2022, the financial barrier to public transport use almost completely disappeared in Germany due to the 9-Euro-Ticket. It enabled anyone with access to public transport infrastructure across Germany to use public transport for 9 euros per person per month. As this completely changed the conditions for public transport use, especially for low-income households with children, the following research questions arise: (1) what effect does the 9-Euro-Ticket have on the travel practices and social participation of low-income households with children? (2) how and by what were the travel practices shaped by the 9-Euro-Ticket? and (3) what happened to the interviewees’ travel practices after the measure expired? To answer these questions, twelve qualitative interviews were conducted with low-income households with children in the Hanover region. This study found that the 9-Euro-Ticket removed the financial constraint of public transport use, changed the travel practices of most interviewees and had a wide range of positive meanings. The respondents associate the 9-Euro-Ticket with freedom, joy at being able to offer their children something, along with financial and psychological relief. Additionally, the 9-Euro-Ticket enabled the interviewees to engage in leisure activities, to visit relatives, contributed to integration, had an empowering effect, especially for women and children, and thus represents a measure to increase social participation. After the three months of the 9-Euro-Ticket, financing public transport use challenges low-income households again and financial constraints prevent them from reaching certain places and engaging in out-of-home activities.
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| Author: | Caroline RozynekORCiD |
|---|---|
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-828931 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2024.02.003 |
| ISSN: | 0967-070X |
| Parent Title (English): | Transport Policy |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| Place of publication: | Amsterdam |
| Document Type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of Publication (online): | 2024/02/13 |
| Date of first Publication: | 2024/02/06 |
| Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
| Release Date: | 2024/03/01 |
| Tag: | 9-Euro-Ticket; Practice theory; Temporary nearly fare-free public transport (FFPT); Transport affordability; Transport poverty; Transport-related social exclusion |
| Volume: | 149 |
| Page Number: | 11 |
| First Page: | 80 |
| Last Page: | 90 |
| Institutes: | Geowissenschaften / Geographie / Geographie |
| Dewey Decimal Classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 30 Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie / 300 Sozialwissenschaften |
| 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 38 Handel, Kommunikation, Verkehr / 380 Handel, Kommunikation, Verkehr | |
| Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
| Licence (German): |  Creative Commons - Namensnennung-Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitung 4.0 |
