We would like to comment on the new contract for the Deutschlandsemesterticket. As representatives of the student body, we have decided to sign the contract presented to us for the winter semester 2024/2025. This means that there will continue to be a jointly financed semester ticket valid throughout Germany for all FU students, and the price of 29.40 per month will remain unchanged.
All doctoral students will also receive a semester ticket again, as we have been demanding for months. This development is to be welcomed and proves that political pressure is absolutely necessary to achieve fairer contractual conditions.
We continue to consider the preservation of the semester ticket important and necessary, but we also have considerable reservations about this draft contract. As representatives of all FU students, we must point out that the current ticket offer unfortunately excludes many of them:
1. bicycle transportation:
Many students also use bicycles to get to university. Especially with the frequent breakdowns in local public transport, the ability to take their bike with them is of crucial importance to them. Due to the extreme housing shortage, many students now live in outlying districts where a bicycle is absolutely essential to reach the nearest S-Bahn station, for example, due to poor transport connections. This option is also used by many students who cannot feel safe on public transport, for example due to the threat of violence or discrimination. Unfortunately, supplementary bicycle tickets are so expensive, especially for the C-area, that most students cannot afford one. We therefore continue to call for bicycle transport to be included in the ticket again, as was the case for years in the past.
2. alternative forms of ticket:
We also know from discussions with other students that many of our fellow students do not own a smartphone or do not have permanent mobile internet access. This affects several hundred people at the FU alone. Because the Deutschlandsemesterticket is only available digitally, these students are currently unable to prove that they have purchased a ticket. Even if a valid ticket is subsequently submitted, fees must inevitably be paid. This is clear discrimination based on the financial situation of students without a smartphone. We are therefore calling for the introduction of a chip card as an alternative form of ticket.
The Berlin Senate has responded to our demands as follows:
- Bicycle transport: the Senate is sticking to uniform tariff conditions throughout Germany and points out that general, free bicycle transport on the Deutschlandsemesterticket is not common in other regions.
- Chip card: It is planned to offer students an alternative to the cell phone ticket in exceptional cases in the future. However, this solution will probably not be available until the end of the year, as capacities are currently insufficient due to the introduction of the 29-euro ticket.
We would like to emphasize that on both points, the lack of willingness or (in)ability of the VBB to meet the needs of students is a decisive obstacle to the implementation of our demands. The VBB has been aware for almost a year that many students need a chip card, but has not yet managed to provide the necessary capacity. Bicycle transport could also be regulated regionally in the ABC fare zone by a simple decision, which would be in the interests of all students in Berlin and Brandenburg. One example of this is Saxony-Anhalt, where bicycles can be taken on public transport free of charge for all travelers - including students with the Germany semester ticket.
We therefore call on the Senate and the VBB to finally meet the concerns of the student body and implement our demands and continue to fight for solidarity-financed and accessible mobility for all!
AStA FU
***Info for FU students***
The current semester ticket is too expensive for you? As always, you can apply for an exemption or subsidy at our semester ticket office. In this way, we enable students with a low income or in precarious living situations to use public transport free of charge. You can find out whether the criteria for an exemption or subsidy apply to you here: https://astafu.de/en/semesterticket