Mayor Kang Ki-jung and German Green Party Discuss 'Public Transportation Innovation'

Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung is taking a step closer to realizing a carbon-neutral city by continuing discussions on eco-friendly policies such as energy and public transportation in Europe.

On the 28th (local time), Mayor Kang met with Heiko Knopf, Deputy Leader of the Green Party's Central Committee, in Berlin, Germany, and engaged in focused discussions on eco-friendly urban policies, including the ‘49 Euro Monthly Ticket,’ which has received a warm response in Germany.

Deputy Leader Heiko Knopf worked as a researcher in Jena, a city famous for optics, before entering the city council. He is a representative young politician of the Green Party who rose to the position of Deputy Leader of the Central Committee following a generational change after the 2021 general election.

Germany has been operating the so-called ‘49 Euro Ticket’ (approximately 70,000 KRW), known as the ‘Deutschland Ticket,’ since May. For a monthly fee of 49 euros, users can access all local public transportation nationwide, including subways, buses, and trams, with transportation costs about 30% cheaper than before.

This aims to reduce household burdens caused by rising prices, increase public transportation usage to protect the climate environment, and modernize the German transportation ticket system simultaneously.

Following the temporary implementation of the ‘9 Euro Ticket’ last year, which sold 5.2 million tickets and gained tremendous popularity, the 49 Euro Ticket was newly introduced to stabilize the system.

Mayor Kang and Deputy Leader Knopf had an in-depth conversation comparing and reviewing the background, purpose, user response, and financial management of the ‘49 Euro Ticket’ with Gwangju’s public transportation policies.

Deputy Leader Knopf explained, “The coalition partners of the federal government?the Social Democratic Party, the Green Party, and the Free Democratic Party?engaged in continuous debates to reduce citizens’ burdens caused by rising prices and to cut energy use. As a complementary measure to reduce energy consumption, public transportation support policies were introduced. This policy addresses both the energy crisis and the climate crisis and aims to provide equal accessibility to public transportation for everyone, receiving widespread approval.”

In response, Mayor Kang said, “Gwangju does not charge fares for children under 12 years old and is implementing a first phase plan to provide monthly passes to youth. The second phase will consider expanding free rides to youth as well. Since it is time for public transportation policies that fundamentally reduce energy use and respond to the climate crisis beyond welfare, we will continue to engage in intense deliberations.”

Meanwhile, the German Green Party is the mainstream of the global Green Party movement, with climate crisis discourse, environmental policy changes, and the use of sustainable energy sources as its main pillars.

In the 2021 German federal election, it recorded its highest-ever vote share, becoming the third-largest party and participating in government as part of the traffic light coalition for the first time in 16 years.

The Green Party holds five ministerial posts, including co-leader Robert Habeck as Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and co-leader Annalena Baerbock as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.