Semester Tickets for University Students in Germany – a Success Story for 25 Years

The so-called "Semesterticket" is a special tariff for university students in Germany which enables them to use public transport in the area of their university. Semester tickets are financed in solidarity by the students: If a university runs a semester ticket, all students automatically have to buy a ticket for one semester (6 months), regardless of whether they want to use public transport or not. In return, the students can use public transport in the area of their university for a very low semester contribution as much as they want without purchasing any extra tickets. In Germany, the first semester ticket was introduced 25 years ago in Darmstadt (1991) as a result of student initiatives. Today, most German universities run a semester ticket.

In her article "Semester tickets for university students in Germany: a success story for 25 years" Miriam Müller describes the concept of semester tickets in Germany, their development over the time and presents empirical research data on student acceptance and the effects of semester tickets on mode shift to public transport and the reduction of car ownership.

It was published in "World Transport Policy & Practice", volume 21.4, you find it for download at the Wuppertal Institute's publication server.