Salzburg State offers a 3-day free trial for its Climate Ticket

It allows people to take a friend along for free during the weekends

Last week, local authorities in the city of Salzburg, Austria, announced that they will provide citizens with a free trial of the Klimatickets Salzburg Plus (Salzburg Plus Climate Ticket). The ticket lets people ride on nearly all rail and bus transport in the Federal State of Salzburg.

The offer will let people get a trial version of the ticket that lasts for three days. The initiative aims to popularise the ticket and expose more citizens to climate-friendly mobility options like public transport and rail.

Unique benefits for kids and tag-alongs

According to an official statement by the city, the free trial is open to everyone and each applicant can be given a single ticket. However, authorities point out that children up to the age of 14 can travel for free and on Saturdays and Sundays and national holidays, ticket holders can take up to one tag-along for no additional cost.

Furthermore, tickets are valid on all S-Bahn and SVV trains and many inner and intercity bus routes, making them a great offer for a weekend getaway for a family or couple.

Austria did it first, but Germany made it more attractive

The Salzburg Plus Climate Ticket is part of Austria’s campaign to make public transport more attractive and a better alternative to cars. Near the end of 2021, the country launched the Climate Ticket – a pass valid for all public transport around the country, making travel from city to city much easier.

According to the Austrian government, the idea for the ticket was to create a sort of public transport tax for citizens, simplifying and unifying the different local transport cards and offers. However, the cost of one of these tickets is around 1,095 euros, while regional tickets (valid for one state only) cost 365 euros.

For comparison, Germany launched the so-called 9-euro ticket in the summer of 2022 – a monthly pass for all local and regional public transport, valid for the whole country.

While this was only a pilot project, that lasted during the summer, the German Federal Government has decided to create a successor policy in the form of the ‘Germany Ticket’ - a monthly pass for 49 euros. And while technically this is more expensive than the Austrian State passes, it is valid for the whole country and requires a monthly contribution, rather than paying upfront for the whole year.

At the same time, many German states have regional or city public transport passes for as low as 29 euros a month.