Germany is one of the countries where using public transport without a valid ticket is a crime. But questions are regularly raised as to whether this is a good thing. Here are the arguments for and against the decriminalization of fare evasion.
Chapters:
00:00 The justice minister goes rogue?
00:45 Penalty fare
01:47 Criminal law
03:13 Simple mistakes
04:36 There are a lot of prosecutions
05:20 The case for decriminalization
07:31 The case against decriminalization
08:30 There are other options
Music:
“Hot Swing”
by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/
Creative Commons Attribution licence
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38 Comments
Put up turnstiles at every U/S-bahn station allowing entry to only those with a valid ticket (or a tap of a credit card) and get rid of the ticket controllers and Schwarzfahrers all together in one fell swoop…ya know, like in every other city in the world with public transport. Bonus benefit: the smell of U-Bahn stations would also improve. iykyk
In Hungary public transport is free for people over 65, including foreigners. Some trains require seat reservations, in those cases even old people have to pay the reservation fee. There are different daily/weekly/monthly/yearly passes depending on the city, also countrywide and regional monthly passes. People caught without ticket have to pay a fine, but often they are allowed to get off the train/bus/tram at the next stop without penalty. (Of course, they just catch the next train) Other times they get issued a fine and if they create too much trouble, the police might be called. Fare dodging is a civil not criminal offence. In Budapest unemployed people can get a 30 day "work seeker's pass" free of charge, but they require certain documents. This can be renewed monthly. I do not know about other areas.
Raise the benefit to match the Deutschlandticket cost. Make it a token they must re-apply for each month. Non-transferable to that individual/family. Make the fines based on income with a minimum 5 EUR fine but 1% of income for those above 45K EUR. It should be a non incarceration offense unless it exceeds 7 times in a year then psychiatric and social work evaluation for incarceration.
9:00 I've heard that Frankfurt actually entitles welfare recipients to a free Deutschlandticket. Meanwhile, in the municipality of Essen, I still have got to pay 53€ which adjusts with the increases to the regular price. A mere 10€ discount from the regular amount….
Essen is kind of a joke if you're not a wealthy car owner…. The CDU has been holding it in an iron grip for I don't even know how long, and it shows….
Honestly, I'm just of the opinion that public transport is a common good/service that should be free for everyone, alongside a sturdy and thoroughly though-through network. The more public transport there is, the more quality of life improves in the day to day thanks to fewer cars on the road, thereby reducing air and noise pollution, etc etc etc.
perkara ngambing di kereta mestinya adalah perdata, bukan pidana. 😅
Simple solution. Have any social benefits reduced for the offender.
"Pay now or pay more later."
Trying to get by on wellfare payments, well, fares aren't going to be your priority.
8:40 "the radical thing making public transport free for everyone who isn't scrupulously honest."
We could make the even more radical thing and make public transport free for everyone. Period.
No.
Welfare recipients having no ticket should be fined quadruple higher.
The BKK (the Budapest public transport authority) solved this around 23 years ago: have a bunch of eccentric ticket inspectors like a failed architecture student, a woman in a bear costume, a narcoleptic, a professor, and a bunch of thugs. If you don't pay up, a guy nicknamed "the roadrunner" sprays shaving cream in your face and traps you in a carriage full of Újpest ultras who just came from a game where they lost to Ferencváros. They do this all while having some sick electronic music in the background too, it's pretty awesome.
Gratis bahnfahren? Meinetwegen. Dann aber auch nie wieder Mineralölsteuer.
Try commuting in Frankfurt for a few days in public transport and your will definitely agree on stricter control.
I drive a train almost daily and rarely use a ticket…..
…. i just stick the key in the ignition and go. *
* after i have checked the engines the brakes the doors the signals and the departure time!
I believe the idea is not total decriminalization, but just reclassify it as a „Ordnungswidrigkeit“ instead of its current status. Those usually only carry a fine ans not directly prison time, although indirectly it can lead to prison as well if someone isn’t able to pay the fine.
Looking forward to more travel videos.
I think it's kinda disingenuous that they first privatized public transport, made it more pricey and less reliable in the process, and now are using that as an argument for why fare dodging should be considered criminal. Public transport is infrastructure, and it should be treated as such. It's not for making a profit.
The obvious solution: local public transport should be free for everyone.
And to preempt the unavoidable no free lunch argument: yes, I’m arguing for the fares to be subsidized by the taxpayers. Driving on the Autobahn is toll-free and nobody bats an eye. Cars are subsidized up the wazoo, the money we put towards automobiles would be much better spent into public transit.
Five minutes with a train ticket vending machine will completely explain German "efficiency." "Efficiency" means that the machine's design has achieved the stated objectives, without any concern for whether the objectives solve the overall problem or whether the machine is comprehensible. There is no pressure to improve the machines because there's an alternative of an "app" which has its own problems, and there's no pressure to improve the "app" because there is an alternative of the machines. Once you understand this German concept of "efficiency" you understand why Volkswagen designed the Passat to require removing the bumper to change the headlight.
I'm Dutch 63 years old. I worked my whole life 70 to 60 hours. I still have to work for 5 years. I really would like, but I'm broken. My body. my mind. The idea to have to work 8 hours and do the shifts 5 days a week!
Germany is not a parliamentary democracy, but a parliamentary dictatorship.
My son who had just finished school in Germany, bought – as you did – a "Deutschlandticket" and the tickets with regional transportation. When he changed trains in Mannheim he entered an ICE not knowing, that Deutschlandtickets in spite of their name are not valid in ICE-Trains. So he was fined 99.- Euros and later even threatened by a privat "Inkassobüro" to pay 250 Euros, when he argued with the "DeutscheBahn" that he had even a Double "Bahn50-Ticket" (50% Reduced price) and tickets for all other trains in parts of the journey.
This is how a young naive student is persecuted like a criminal by our big national companies. So – yes! I am absolutely for a change in the law!
Germans tend to obey rules. I suppose this was less of a problem back in the days when most of the people in Germany were German.
Fare dodging takes up capacity in the Prosecutors’ Office, and the staff cannot work on more heavy crimes. The German justice system has a shortage of personnel, and decriminalizing certain crimes could be a part of the solution.
"Fare dodging will not be decriminalised, just as much as avoiding taxes (won't ever be criminalised, for really rich people, that is)! It's nobody's but your fault that you didn't put in the effort to be born rich, now deal with it!"
Every German C and F party. Probably.
It is the old “broken window” argument. If you don’t stop the minor vandalism, it will grow to real crime. The cases of social welfare recipients and other special cases but be looked at separately. Like was outlined in this video, with special subsidized passes for local travel, etc.
Another interesting thing about ticketing (I assume it’s the same across Germany) — mobile tickets are only valid 2 minutes after you buy them, to stop you panic-buying one when an inspector jumps on the train. Happy to be corrected on this, though — just something I witnessed in Berlin, with my mate translating an argument between a passenger and an inspector while I’m there nudging him like, “what are they saying? what’s going on?”
Or they could reintroduce mandatory work while in prison so that the inmates contribute something to the costs of housing them, while also teaching them work routines of getting up in time, being ready on time and such things, to prepare them for getting released and becoming functioning members of society once again. And to make it extra sweet, half of the money generated by the inmates could be put in a savings account for them and given to them when they are released. Thereby creating an incentive to work and teaching them that working hard will be rewarded well.
Yes, this is still quite an effort for a dodged fare of 4€, but I think keeping people afraid of being subjected to these things might be worth it in the long run.
You don’t need a ticket to ride public transport in Germany, Andrew! You need a chip! Remember DeutscheBahn is the biggest publicly run casino in the world. The only one where the house doesn’t take your money but it does take your seat, your connection and your sanity!
It’s interesting that you’ve completely omitted the possibility making this an administrative penalty (like a traffic ticket) instead of a matter for the courts.
That's what's currently the law in Austria. And Austria usually doesn't enforce this either unless you are a persistent offender.
That doesn't make Austria a fare dodging paradise. The transport company will collect the penalty fee one way or another.
The Argentur für Arbeit does reimburse you for your jobhunting travel expenses. Its a hassle but not an excuse to "drive black".
Yeah, just imagine if everybody had to buy the Deutschlandticket.
Say 60ish millon adults paying 60ish euros each month. 43ish billion per year. I assume you can run a few trains with that.
Whatever your opionion on the matter, the first step to take is making tariffs comprehensible.
In Germany, in the same station, three or more operators can have their train/busses stop.
Demanding a foreigner to understand the intricacies is cruel and unusual punishment.
Religious people is riding the trains and trams without DT…. This non ham lovers will get all rides from free now based on law…. They want to save 200 millions per year. DT now have a hole of 3000 millions of euros of loses per year…. Now if this religious people will not pay…. Loses will be bigger.
One of the two times I was in Frankfurt back in 1990 (I was in the USAF back then and do not speak German), I entered the station and saw now gate or turnstile to go through. Having lived in NYC, I was confused. I stupidly thought maybe the trains were free. Anyway, I rode without a ticket and fortunately was not caught and charged with a crime.
Alder, das ist ja mal schön
Fehler mir zu erklären, die ich gar nicht wusste, dass ich sie begangen habe, hat schon was.
Ich kann deine Sucht der deutschen Sprache durchaus nachvollziehen.
Lets go fvck the Planet!
youtube just remarked me to not post, but i cant find the word….
you Kida misrepresented the idea of decriminalization. it would still be an misdemeanor. which means that you still need to pay the fine just the same but also if you don't pay you can still technically go to prison and then still have to pay the fine. it in no way lessens the punishment. it simply removes the possibility of directly going to jail and it means you don't get a criminal record making a lot of things more difficult.
so no the CDUs argument here makes absolutely no sense. it doesn't change anything for transport companies income.
First off: Theft is theft. No matter if it's about goods or services.
Issue in this special case is, that public transportation is VERY MUCH in the interest of the public, for a myriad of reasons.
Services cost money though.
My enlightenment with this came when I visited the Netherlands. Gated entry is amazing! For so many reasons!
The solution I envision: Mandate the DB to install gated entry to the actual rails. While being a HUGE investment without question, this would solve sooooo many issues. Only people with tickets valid for that day and on that line would get access to the train to begin with, so much less need for ticket control, and much less danger for the controllers. Also a huge incentive for DB to get their trains where they need to be at the time they need to be there at.
Finally: Make public transport a PUBLIC matter again! Regulate the crap out of it, but also fund it left and right with public money! Issue cheap easy tickets for workers for their work routes. Issue regional passes for people that provably can't afford any tickets. Make reasonably competetive offers for occasional travelers. Charge more for high speed connections over large distances for all I care. Most people just want to go 2-5 stations forth and back, be it for work or groceries.
Goal would be to enable those that fare-dodge today to instead have an appropiatly affordable access to the trips they usually need to make, but also make sure that everyone that makes a trip in any capacity does so in accordance to law, while still keeping the system as a whole afloat. Everyone takes part in making the system possible through taxes, the few long-range high-speed customers pay the bigger bills, the regular regional users provide the base funding, and the few in need that today cause so much cost within the legal system, could be carried most of their ways.
It WOULD be possible. If there was a political will. And I'm saying this as a generally more conservative leaning citizen (though not willing to vote for CDU/AfD/FDP). Which is also someone that has a leisurely 1h car drive (each way) for work from a more rural spot within a very populated area (NRW), with a bus stop 2min from his front door, and one 3min from his office. Public transport however would take me 2-3.5h (each way!!), and I'd only be able to arrive at work 8am earliest, and would have to leave ~3:30pm latest to even have the end-stops serviced. Only on weekdays. On weekends, a 40min walk is added to both ways. NOT AN OPTION – at any price point!!
There is a loooooot to do.
The actual surprising thing I learnt from this video is that a million euro can only buy you three buses. German buses must have got a lot more expensive since the early 90s, when my hometown imported a few dozen of (admittedly, used) buses from Munich for several hundred thousand DMs. At least one kept running all the way until ~2018 too!
Taking it back home after 3 hours of German classes tripped me every time, since it was also one of the buses they never removed original posters from. I once started patting down myself in a desperate attempt to find 5DMs that the poster said I had to pay for the ride. It took me about a minute to realise that A. I'm not in Germany B. DMs have been replaced by the Euro. C. My ticket had already been paid for upon entry 20 minutes prior.