The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) wants to increase its fares again soon - the cities of Mainz and Wiesbaden reprimand this request.

According to Andreas Kowol (Die Grünen), head of the Wiesbaden transport department, the RMV supervisory board decided at its special meeting on January 27th and 28th that prices would be extraordinarily increased by an average of 3.9 percent on July 1st of this year.

According to Kowol, this is the transport association's highest tariff increase in more than ten years.

"We presented conclusive arguments, but unfortunately the majority of the other board members voted for the increase," said Kowol, who said he himself voted against the price increase.

The Mainz traffic department head Janina Steinkrüger (Die Grünen) is not entitled to vote due to Mainz's special status.

As part of the RMV, Wiesbaden and Mainz are legally obliged to implement the increase, Kowol continued.

"Wrong signal at the wrong time"

On its website, the RMV writes that the prices will be raised on July 1, 2022 in order to cover the increased operating costs and to expand the offer.

The prices for annual tickets would not be increased.

"In this way, RMV accommodates its regular customers and appreciates their loyalty during the pandemic," it says.

The ticket prices for seniors and students also remained unchanged.

In detail, the RMV justifies the price increases with the inflation rate of more than three percent and the costs for drivers, service and workshop personnel, which have increased by around ten percent since 2017.

Diesel and electricity prices have risen by around 15 and 33 percent respectively.

"Therefore, the RMV now has to raise the tariff level once by 3.9 percent," says the RMV page on "tariff adjustment".

Short-term additional costs due to higher fares

For Wiesbaden's traffic department heads, however, this is the "completely wrong signal at the completely wrong time". After the corona pandemic, local public transport must first win back the lost passengers. "There is a great danger that this pricing policy will reduce the number of passengers and revenue, and thus the opposite will be achieved," warn the two heads of transport. In the short term, the transport companies would even incur additional costs because the systems for ticket sales would have to be changed. In addition, the passengers should be informed.

“I can understand that energy costs in particular have risen.

But this is now the fourth price increase within two years,” Kowol criticized the decision of the supervisory board.

This price increase in local public transport hits those people hard who already have to spend every euro anyway.

“These population groups, especially families, single parents and pensioners, are already being disproportionately burdened by the current price increases for groceries, rents, heating costs and electricity.

This cannot be in the interest of a socially balanced policy,” the two heads of department were convinced.

They call on the federal and state governments to meet their responsibilities.

It must stop that the cities and passengers alone are burdened with increased costs.

The price increases are also very uneven.

The price for an adult single ticket will increase in two steps from 2.90 euros in December 2021 to 3.20 euros in July 2022.

That was more than ten percent and "unacceptable and communicable in the current situation," Steinkrüger complained.

In addition, more expensive bus and train prices are not helpful for the mobility turnaround and climate protection.

Steinkrüger and Kowol announced that the price for the five-card ticket, which is the only ticket that Wiesbaden and Mainz can decide for themselves, will not be increased.