Austria’s new Climate Ticket transit pass gets you anywhere for $1,200 per year
This October, the Austrian government released KlimaTicket Ö, or the Austrian Climate Ticket (Austria is Österreich in German). KlimaTicket Ö is an annual transit pass that can be used on any transit service in the country, for the price of €1,095 per year — roughly $1,236.36 US dollars, or approximately $3.38 per day. The announcement was widely heralded in the media, with outlets like CNN touting “the $3.50 go-anywhere ticket to fight climate change.”
The Austrian federal government debuted the ticket with the goal of motivating people to use transit to help address the ongoing climate crisis. As the English website notes: “The more you participate, the better it is for the climate. That is why the KlimaTicket Ö is uncomplicated and affordable.”
The Central European country has a population of about 9 million, similar in size to the San Francisco Bay Area’s 8 million. Austria has even more transit agencies than the Bay Area, with 40 agencies in the Vienna metropolitan area, the largest metro in the country. In comparison, the Bay Area has “only” 27 transit agencies.
Other European countries also offer a national transit pass, but at a much higher price than Austria’s new Cimate Ticket. CNN reports that a similar annual ticket for buses, trains and metro in the Netherlands (population ~18 million) is more than $3,500 (€3,066). The annual pass for all transit in Switzerland (population about 9 million) is also about three times the price of Austria’s new Climate Ticket.
It wasn’t easy to bring this program about in Austria - CNN and other outlets report that the Climate Ticket has been in the works for some 15 years. The Bay Area’s timeline for studying these issues has been similarly slow; the funding for the Bay Area fare study completed earlier this year was raised in 2004.
Prerequisites: investment and a strong network
CNN reports that the Austrian initiative will cost $278 million (€240 million) up front, and ongoing costs are expected to be around $175 million (€150 million) a year.
Today, a Bay Area resident who uses multiple agencies on a regular basis would pay much more for unlimited travel across all 27 Bay Area agencies. Note: Note, all Bay Area transit agencies offer discounts to youth, senior, or qualifying riders. These discounts vary from 20-55%, and most agencies offer 10-20% discounts for riders using Clipper to pay their fare — only clipper fares are included above.
Supporting Austria’s initiative is a robust transit system with high frequency. For the Bay Area, increasing transit use will require increasing investments in transit service, coverage and speed - in addition to more investments in streamlining the fare system.
The Bay Area today - and goals for the future
Today, a Bay Area resident who uses multiple agencies on a regular basis would pay much more for unlimited travel across all 27 Bay Area agencies (see the table below). But the Bay Area has started on a path to follow Austria toward a more affordable and universal regional transit pass. The new Fare Policy Vision, recently adopted by the Bay Area region’s transit executives, includes a multi-agency pilot pass for organizations, and calls for further analysis and development of an individual multi-agency pass along the lines of the Austria program.
Stay tuned for the next steps in the Bay Area to encourage transit leaders to implement the pass for organizations, and develop an integrated pass for individuals.
As for the need for frequent service, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will be holding a public listening session on December 13 at 2:00 pm PT to consider a path toward a regional ballot measure that could fund service. The page and Zoom information for the MTC listening session can be found here.