On Friday, July 18, Lord Mayor Fritz Kuhn discussed the next steps with representatives of all municipal council factions and reached the following agreement:
- The social ticket will be introduced on January 1, 2015.
- An Everyman ticket (€78.50) and 9 o’clock ticket (€60.70) will be available for half the price via the social ticket. According to this so-called “Variant 4”, the tickets cost €39.25 and €30.35 for two zones, for example. This means additional costs of around €2.7 million for the city compared to the subsidies already financed for Bonuscard holders.
- Financing for 2015 will come from the cover reserve. The administration will submit a financing proposal for the 2016/17 double budget to the municipal council for discussion.
- The administration will respond to the joint request from the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, SPD, FDP and SÖS/Linke parliamentary groups by next Wednesday. The draft resolution for the social ticket will be discussed by the new municipal council after the summer break following agreement with the parliamentary groups.
Mayor Kuhn said: “We have found a good solution for the social ticket, which all parliamentary groups except the Free Voters support. It is a good sign that the ticket is supported by a broad majority of the municipal council.”