11.12.2024
Free city ticket for children and young people in Bremen will remain secure from 2025 onwards: The Bremen Senate has decided to continue and fund the free city ticket for children and young people from 2025. This ensures that all eligible young people in the city of Bremen will continue to be able to use the public transport services of the Bremen/Lower Saxony Transport Association (VBN) free of charge.
Social participation through mobility
Since 2021, children and young people in Bremen have benefited from a free city ticket that allows unlimited use of buses, trains, and other public transport within the VBN (Verkehrsverbund Bremen/Niedersachsen) area. The initiative actively promotes the mobility and social inclusion of children and young people.
Building block of social transport policy for Bremen
Özlem Ünsal, Senator for Construction, Mobility and Urban Development, explains: “The mobility and social participation of children and young people must not depend on their financial means. The free city ticket for children and young people is a key component of our social transport policy for Bremen. It ensures greater participation and equal opportunities for our children and young people and simultaneously strengthens public transport.”.
Free city ticket aims to alleviate poverty
Senator for Social Affairs Dr. Claudia Schilling agrees: “We are investing a lot of money so that children and young people can use buses and trains free of charge. No one should be forced to forgo going to sports, the swimming pool, the library, or to see friends for financial reasons. Poverty leads to exclusion. We want to mitigate this with the free city ticket – in the interest of young people as well as in the interest of society as a whole.”
Source: Press Office of the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, The Senator for Construction, Mobility and Urban Development / The Senator for Labour, Social Affairs, Youth and Integration, Press Release , 10 December 2024
Bremen City Ticket – How to get the discounted local transport ticket:
The discounted local transport ticket / Bremen city ticket is a social benefit provided by the city of Bremen, which people living in the city of Bremen can receive if they receive one of the following benefits:
- Basic income support for the unemployed (SGB II) benefits,
- Social assistance (Chapter 3 of the German Social Code, Book XII – Assistance for subsistence, and Chapter 4 of the German Social Code, Book XII – Basic income support for the elderly or those with reduced earning capacity)
- Benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) or
- Benefits under Section 6b BKGG – Children and young people entitled to benefits for education and participation through the receipt of child supplement and/or housing benefit
Use for buses, trams and regional trains on the VBN network
Then there is an entitlement to a reduced-price monthly ticket for local public transport on the VBN network within the city of Bremen. The discounted local public transport ticket/city ticket, priced at €29.70 per month for adults and free for children and young people, entitles the holder to use all buses, trams, and regional trains on the VBN network within the city of Bremen.
social services centers of the Bremen Office for Social Services process the eligibility checks for the customer card required to purchase the city ticket . Clients of the Bremen Job Center must provide proof of their benefit receipt.
Social centers of the Office for Social Services (AfSD) are responsible
The social service centers of the Office for Social Services (AfSD) in Bremen will check your eligibility for a CityTicket. If you receive one of the aforementioned benefits, you are generally eligible and will receive a free customer card with a photo, issued in your name. You may only use the CityTicket with this customer card, and the customer card number must be transferred to the CityTicket.
Youth City Ticket for children and young people up to 18 years of age
For children and young people aged 6 to under 18, BSAG issues a special Youth City Ticket upon application. Application forms are available at the social service centers of the Office for Social Services and must be completed, signed by a parent or guardian, and submitted there with a passport photo.
What documents are required?
After verification and confirmation of eligibility, the applications will be forwarded to BSAG. Once the ticket has been issued, it will be sent by mail. To apply for a CityTicket, you will need the following documents: identity card or passport, passport photo (according to the photo sample chart), Bremen Pass or other proof of receiving benefits, proof of arrival or residence permit (for refugees).