Rural residents in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia often continue to use a car instead of public transport due to a lack of services. "More people have switched in the cities, but not in the countryside," said Mario König, Chairman of the Association of Central German Bus Companies. The reason for this is that there are not enough services in rural areas. For example, a journey to the late shift for a production employee is feasible by public transport - but the return journey in the evening is not. "This means that switching from car to public transport is out of the question from the outset," explained König.
A monthly pass for local public transport in rural areas usually doesn't cost much more than what is charged per month for the Deutschlandticket, König explained. "In principle, of course, we welcome the Deutschlandticket because it has made access to local public transport much easier thanks to the simple fare," said the association chairman. In rural areas, however, it does not have the desired effect because there are simply too few journeys to make optimum use of the simple fare.
