Public transport Young parties in Basel plan initiative for cheaper U-Abo

Five young Baselbieter parties from the left to the center want to launch a cantonal popular initiative for a youth U-Abo for CHF 365 per year. The aim: young people and young adults in the canton of Basel-Landschaft should not have to pay more than their peers in Basel-Stadt, as stated in a joint press release on Friday.

The Juso, the Junge Grüne Bündnis, the Junge Grünliberalen, the Junge EVP and the Junge Mitte have joined forces to achieve this goal.

Passengers under the age of 25 currently pay CHF 365 per year in the city canton, compared to CHF 542 in the Basel region. Jan Kirchmayr (SP) had already called for this amount to be brought into line with that of the neighboring canton in a motion at Thursday's meeting of the cantonal parliament.

However, the conservative majority rejected this on the grounds that, in view of the canton's financial situation, they did not want to subsidize the costs. The motion was rejected by 40 votes to 32 with 1 abstention.

The five young parties were disappointed by the rejection of Kirchmayr's motion. Although the subsidy would require financial resources, it would encourage people to switch from private motorized transport to public transport, according to the press release. Furthermore, the "unequal treatment along cantonal borders" is not justified.