Vienna’s annual bus pass enjoys unprecedented success

There are now more seasonal tickets than there are cars in the Austrian capital

The Vienna annual bus pass is the envy of other European capitals. Even in Berlin, the city’s mayor has expressed his wish to create a similar payment method for locals.

And apparently – citizens are also more than satisfied with the service. According to data recently published by the Austrian capital, carriers of the annual pass now outnumber the number of cars in the city.

The annual pass in numbers

The number of annual passes bought since they were introduced in 2011 has risen sharply. Currently, there are some 852,000 people using the service. According to authorities, the main contributing factor to their popularity is affordability – in Vienna, an annual pass for the public transport network costs 365 euros – or 1 euro per day. Meanwhile, in Berlin, it costs 882 euros, in Hamburg 1988 euros and in London the price tag is a staggering 4000 pounds.

Furthermore, bus traffic in Vienna amounts to 38% of all traffic in the city – yet it makes up barely 1% of all emissions in the urban area. The use of the annual pass has significantly improved the capital’s environmental outlook – not only is using the bus less environmentally costly, but it has also led to a 4% reduction of car usage in 2019 alone.

Speaking about the climate benefits of public transport, City councillor Ulli Sima stated that  "The well-functioning public transport systems make a key contribution to climate protection in our city. Because those who opt for a Wiener Linien ticket and do without the car save 1.5 tons of climate-damaging CO2 annually."

With both citizens and authorities increasingly satisfied with the service, it should come as no surprise that taxpayers are ready to spend more on its improvement. That is why, the city will invest a further 368 million euros on the local public transport network over the course of 2020 – in the hopes of further boosting its popularity and success.