[lispm]

Most Deutschlandticket owners use it in their region, not for "travel throughout the country". When people travel beyond their region, it does not mean they are traveling throughout the whole country.

> Public transport is a good thing to have, but extolling it as a desirable-in-itself, convenient way to travel as compared to personal transport is simply not viable.

Mobility is an important need of people. Public transport provides a large part of the mobility needs in Germany and Cities compete by providing good services. Whether people prefer it to "personal transport" is their choice. If you personally have problems using mobility services together with "strangers", that's your thing and there are alternatives for you. Many people don't have these problems, which can be seen by the amount of people using public transport. There should now be more than ten million owners (10m was reached after one month of availability) of a Deutschlandticket (which is a subscription ticket) - out of a population of 80+ million. Additionally people use public transport with other tickets. The public transport is also not there in isolation. It is meshed with car usage, flights, long-distance trains, ... people walk and bike...