German government offers a cheap travel pass to citizens

This Guardian article looks at the German response to tackle the cost of living crisis by offering a €9 travel pass to its citizens.

The response has been fascinating, with a rise in the number of shorter rail journeys, and changes in transport patterns, with lower congestion levels in most German cities and a better quality of life.

The authors argue that all nations should be looking at such a policy, not least as a way of creating greater equality of opportunity for people to access employment and education.

This example follows on from the news in Spain that their government is using proceeds from a windfall tax on energy companies to help fund free trail travel on selected services operated by their main state-owned rail company.