Freilassing/Salzburg – The state of Salzburg also wants that and already has since April 1, the so-called “petrol-free days”., which means that all buses and trains in the state are free on Fridays until the end of June. The offer is valid up to Mondsee and Bad Ischl in Upper Austria, unfortunately not to Freilassing and Bad Reichenhall. Bus operator Thomas Hogger runs numerous routes both in Bavaria and in Salzburg, he sees the Salzburg model as “made better”.

The German 9-euro ticket is only makes sense in regions with a really well developed network“What good is a 9-euro ticket for someone who lives in Saaldorf-Surheim, for example, if there isn’t a regular bus service,” says Thomas Richter, owner of Hogger Verkehr. The timetables in the district are too lean overall. “In a rural district like the Berchtesgadener Land you look through your fingers, where there is nothing I can not use anything,” is the sober assessment of the entrepreneur.

In Salzburg, on the other hand, that already exists since the beginning of the year, the 365-euro ticket for all buses and trains in the federal state, “I can use something there, the offer throughout the state is correspondingly good,” judges Richter. The additional “petrol-free days” introduced on April 1st “done better” than the 9-euro ticketthe only flaw is that they do not apply across the state border, i.e. not to Freilassing and not to Bad Reichenhall.

“Here again the issue of borders plays a role, even though the city of Freilassing is an official member of the Salzburg transport association”. With the free rides on Fridays, bus operators have Administrative effort without and would not have to constantly reprogram ticket machines, “you simply say how much income you usually have on a Friday and replace it”.

ÖBB and Westbahn are also participating

The state of Salzburg and the federal government Let the Friday campaign cost you around 750,000 eurosit is unclear whether more commuters or day trippers have actually switched to public transport on Friday since the start, the Freedom Party in the state parliament want to know about 19,000 additional passengers on the four Fridays in April, they say criticize the high expenses for the “political show”. The money should better flow into the expansion of public transport. Criticism also comes from the KPÖ local council, he misses Notes on the busesbecause many would also buy and validate a ticket on Friday because they hadn’t heard anything about the campaign.

Traffic Minister Stefan Schnöll remains with it, the petrol-free day “is a Incentives to switch to public transport“. In May, the campaign was extended to the ÖBB and Westbahn trains that have stops in the state.

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