Cynthia Hoven, Ihsane Darssi, and Katharina Bikhno are in their fourth semester at the University of Bremen. They have all been using the original combined ticket for a while now. The three students told us more in an interview with up2date.

For which journeys and means of transport do the students use the combined ticket most frequently?

Cynthia says that she uses the ticket to travel to her home town of Gronau in North Rhine-Westphalia almost every weekend. “The previous semester ticket didn’t cover this route, but with the new combined semester ticket for Germany I can now use it for the entire journey,” she says. Ihsane also travels regularly to visit her family in Dortmund. As the ICE tickets became too expensive for her in the long term, she decided some time ago to travel by regional train to visit her parents. This route is also included in the new Deutschland-Semester-Ticket. Katharina uses the ticket to travel on public transport in Hamburg and Berlin – she often visits friends and family in both cities. All three also say that the Deutschland-Ticket in combination with the semester ticket generally offers them more flexibility and freedom: “You can travel anywhere in Germany and also travel to nearby cities that you want to visit in your free time,” explains Ihsane Darssi. In addition to regional transport, the students also use buses and trams within Bremen, as they neither cycle nor drive.

The Deutschland-Semester-Ticket (D-SeTi)

The optional combined ticket, which previously had to be booked separately, was often criticized by students. Our three interviewees also criticized the price and processing of the two tickets. In recent months, the AStA Students’ Union (AStA) therefore actively campaigned for students at the University of Bremen to receive a nationwide semester ticket with the same area of validity as the Deutschland-Ticket. After long negotiations, the AStA members succeeded in introducing the Deutschland-Semester-Ticket (D-SeTi for short) for the 2024/25 winter semester. It only costs 60 percent of the Deutschland-Ticket price and, with a few exceptions, is compulsory for all students.

What exactly is different?

The change to the Deutschland-Semester-Ticket means that the semester ticket will be valid nationwide on all local public transport in the current 2024/25 winter semester, just like the regular Deutschland-Ticket. The ticket will initially cost 176.40 euros – i.e. 29.40 euros per month – for the winter semester 2024/2025, which is 13.82 euros less than the previous combined ticket. This was 17.30 euros per month in addition to the price of the semester ticket and had to be purchased individually. The new ticket is paid for via the semester fee to the university; an individual subscription is no longer necessary.

It is only available digitally; the former paper ticket is no longer required. Since the beginning of October, students at the University of Bremen have been able to access the ticket via the RideCampus website by logging in with their university account. All students received an email with a registration link before the start of the semester.

Who is responsible for the semester ticket?

The AStA Students’ Union is responsible for negotiating the ticket conditions. It is a member of the Verkehrslandesastenkonferenz (VLAK) Niedersachsen. This is where the “state-wide semester ticket” project was originally initiated. This enabled a larger area of validity for the semester ticket until recently. In general, the transport ticket works according to the solidarity principle: with a few exceptions, everyone pays the same amount, regardless of use.

The AStA will keep all students at the University of Bremen up to date with news via circular mail. However, if you would like to find out more about the new Deutschland-Semester-Ticket and how to download it, you can visit the AStA website.

Further information (in German only)

https://www.dein-semesterticket.de/