Mobility for all!

The problem

Travelling without a ticket is considered a criminal offence under § 265a of the Criminal Code (Erschleichen von Leistungen). Even travelling once without a ticket can lead to a charge and a prison sentence of up to one year. If and when charges are brought is up to the transport companies. The common practice is that after the third time, or if the so-called “increased transport charge” of 60 euros is not paid, charges are filed. As a rule, this leads to a fine. If the money cannot be paid, the penalty must be compensated by community service or with imprisonment (Ersatzfreiheitstrafe according to §43 StGB). In the case of imprisonment, the offender will have a criminal record.

Such imprisonments primarily affect people who live at or below the poverty line. Thus, the reason for their sentence is often based on their social status. This clearly demonstrates discrimination against the poor, which has no positive effects on the people implicated. Those affected can lose their jobs, homes and vital social contacts as a result of these sentences. Thus, after serving their sentence, they are often in an even more unstable situation than before and even less likely to be able to buy a ticket for public transport, thereby only exacerbating the problem.

This mechanism is particularly evident in the case of the homeless. Often our guests are in urgent need of public transportation to get to social services, medical care facilities or emergency overnight stays, or to simply warm up. The ticket prices, as well as resulting fines, cannot be paid. For those with no fixed abode, this is compounded by the fact that they do not necessarily reside where they are registered and any demands for fines do not reach them. If they are caught travelling without a ticket again, they may then have to go directly to prison. Many are also denied the chance to work off their sentence through community service due to mental illness or addiction problems, as well as bureaucratic obstacles and complicated access to information.

Ultimately, the entire process also costs the state a considerable amount of money. A snapshot survey showed that on the day of the 9th October 2018, a total of 65 people were serving an imprisonment in Berlin for the fraudulent use of services. With average daily imprisonment costs of at least 150 euros per person, taxpayer money amounting to 9750 euros was spent for this day alone. Due to the state of prison overload, the German Association of Judges (Deutscher Richterbund e.V.) also supports transforming the offence into a misdemeanour.

Our demands on the substitute custodial sentence and the reporting practice of public transport companies

• We demand a repeal of the substitute custodial sentence!
• We demand the removal without substitution of the paragraph on fraudulent transport use (§ 265a StGB)!
• We demand that the BVG stop the charges for “fraudulent use of services”!

The problem

Due to a lack of social spaces, homeless people depend on public spaces to stay and/or earn money, for example by collecting deposit bottles and selling newspapers. In winter, these are mainly public transport places, S- and U-Bahn stations, entrances and air shafts. These places are reasonably warm and sheltered.

Since the privatisation of BVG, and even before, there has been an increasing displacement of homeless people. BVG does not recognise the social significance of the spaces they manage, but rather sees them as their property, which need to be managed as a commodity. The most direct methods of removing individuals are often enforced through physical violence by security staff. They are instructed to enforce “house rules”. In the case of homeless people, the usage regulations of the BVG §3 abs. 8[1] are invoked. “Mere loitering without the intention of embarkment” is forbidden. The security guards rarely employ deescalation. Should a person complain, the case would be logged by the security guards themselves, which, as a result, rarely happens. As such, on our support tours we often hear about guests who were violently expelled from buses, trains and stations. In the house rules of the railway, the “searching of litter bins” is forbidden, and newspapers may only be sold after prior registration. Violations lead to physical removal, barring from the premises, criminal prosecution and/or claims for damages.

Our demands

• We demand an independent complaints office on the behaviour of BVG security and control staff!
• We demand obligatory de-escalation training for security staff and sensitisation on how to deal with the socially disadvantaged!
• We demand a ban on financial incentives for control staff for catching individuals.
• We demand the amendment of the house and usage regulations of BVG and Deutsche Bahn, in particular the abolition of the rule prohibiting loitering without the intention of embarkment.
• We demand that BVG and Deutsche Bahn assume social responsibility!

The problem

When it comes to mobility, different forms of discrimination also occur simultaneously, worsening the problem for people who are affected by different forms of discrimination. Homeless flinta* individuals (women, lesbian, inter, non-binary, trans and a-gender persons), who need special shelters and often have already had traumatizing experiences, often have to travel more often and for greater distance because the number of shelters for flinta* persons is far too small. This increases the risk of being caught travelling without a ticket. In addition, (potentially violent) controls by security can lead to retraumatization. People with physical disabilities are dependent on accessible accommodations as well as accessible U- and S-Bahn stations. We often experience that elevators in the stations, if at all present, are broken, which denies people with physical impairments access to the trains. People are also checked because of their skin color and sometimes treated particularly brutally by security staff. The list goes on and on.

Our demands

• We demand an end to all discriminatory behavior by BVG security staff!
• We demand an independent complaints office for violent assaults and discrimination!
• We demand special shelters for Flinta* persons in the trains and S- and U-Bahn-stations!
• We demand the guarantee of barrier-free access to all trains as well as S- and U-Bahn-stations!

If you have a berlinpass, you can buy a discounted social ticket, the so-called “Berlin-Ticket S” at a monthly price of 27.50 euros. The ticket allows you to use all public transport in the AB fare zone.

Unfortunately, the berlinpass and, by extension, the Berlin-Ticket S are tied to certain requirements, which many people in need of assistance do not fulfil, e.g. if they do not have a registered address in Berlin or are not in possession of valid identification.

We demand

As an alternative or supplement to the Berlin Ticket S, we demand the recognition of written statements confirming lack of financial means from social workers as a ticket substitute.