The application is possible once from June 3rd – for everyone who has celebrated their 18th birthday since January 1st, 2024 and in the future until the day before their 21st birthday. “Young people do not want and should not have to choose between mobility and climate protection,” said Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) on Thursday.
- Also read: Climate ticket: How a successful project becomes a challenge
“One ticket for all public transport throughout the country” has been a reality for three years, she said at a press conference in Vienna Central Station. There are now more than 280,000 people who use the Austria-wide climate ticket. Of these, around 90,000 tickets are for the climate ticket youth or Kimaticket civil service/armed forces/volunteer service. Overall, with the regional climate tickets, every seventh Austrian is traveling with a climate ticket, reported Gewessler.
“Strongly influential for further mobility”
The age between 15 and 19 has a “very strong influence on future mobility,” explained Lina Mosshammer from the mobility platform “Point&”. 18-year-olds now have “easy access to sustainable mobility,” she emphasized. “Young people want to be mobile and independent. Unfortunately, this usually fails due to costs or availability,” said Rihab Toumi, chairwoman of the Federal Youth Representative Council. Mobility is also an important factor for participation, said Toumi, pleased about the free offer for a year for everyone between the ages of 18 and 20.
The free climate ticket can be picked up at all official sales and service points. The possible start of validity is from the 18th birthday until one day before the 21st birthday. Around 88,000 people will be eligible each year, Gewessler said. There is still no experience as to how many will accept the offer. In any case, 120 million euros are available annually in the federal budget for the free climate ticket for those aged 18 and over. “The age around 18 is a crucial one,” she said, defending the spending. “Everyone who switches to public transport is a benefit for our mobility system as a whole and is a benefit for climate protection.” Every euro is “very well invested” here.
Public transport services are to be expanded
The public transport offering will of course be “expanded in parallel,” assured the Climate Protection and Transport Minister when asked. There are record budgets for railway expansion, emphasized Gewessler. “Especially in rural areas, we depend on the federal states to follow suit.” The winter was difficult, “we struggled with delays in delivery of trains that had been ordered a long time ago, with storm damage and repairs.” But everyone at ÖBB rolled up their sleeves to “clean up” this situation as quickly as possible.
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