Das NRW-Semesterticket

This diploma thesis deals with the so-called NRW-Semesterticket. Since the year 2008, this special tariff of the local and regional public transportation system enables many university students from the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to use - in addition to the geographical scope covered by regional semester tickets - all the public means of the local and regional transportation systems in NRW unrestrictedly. The study attempted to create a first data basis regarding acceptance, utilization and impacts of a state-wide valid semester ticket. Of special interest was the acceptance of the NRW-Semesterticket at a university located at the very border of the federal state, as well the evaluation of the contributions towards climate protection. For this purpose, an online survey has been carried out with 4.500 part-taking students at the University of Bielefeld. The survey revealed that the NRW-Semesterticket is broadly accepted by the students, although the approval differs depending on the students’ regional provenance, age and car ownership. Differentiated utilization patterns of the NRW-Semesterticket could be identified. In addition to the impacts of regional semester tickets, the NRW-Semesterticket contributes to an environmentally and socially responsible traffic organization by reducing the number of privately owned cars and shifting car traffic to public means of transportation. Furthermore, the probability increases that students will use the public transportation system also after their studies at university have ended. The NRW-Semesterticket can be considered as a good approach to extend the geographical scope of regional semester tickets. However, the only unidirectional extension towards NRW is capable of improvement.

Miriam Müller:

Das NRW-Semesterticket

Akzeptanz, Nutzung und Wirkungen dargestellt am Fallbeispiel der Universität Bielefeld

Wuppertal 2011, ISBN 978-3-929944-85-3

(Wuppertaler Studienarbeiten zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung no. 1)