New study by The Changency and BDKV reveals enormous potential for combined public transport tickets

Berlin/Hamburg, 15 July 2026 – Up to 90 per cent of emissions from events are caused by audience travel. This is one of the key areas for action in achieving a sustainable events industry, and the combined ticket can help to achieve this. The new feasibility study ‘Combined Ticket Without Limits’ now highlights just how much untapped potential lies in this area. The study was carried out by the sustainability agency The Changency in cooperation with the Federal Association of the Concert and Events Industry (BDKV e.V.), with scientific support from the Wuppertal Institute and funding from Initiative Musik. The guiding principle of the project was the vision of making every event ticket valid nationwide as a ‘Deutschlandticket’ for 24 hours.

Great potential despite various hurdles

For the first time, the feasibility study involves all relevant stakeholders, including the transport sector, visitors and event organisers, who account for 35 million ticket sales per year. The results reveal enormous untapped potential: to date, it is estimated that only 5.5% to 12% of all event tickets in Germany are combined tickets. The main reasons are excessive prices and complicated, separate negotiations with regional transport authorities. Furthermore, there is often a lack of clear communication, as a large proportion of the audience are unaware that their admission ticket already serves as a travel ticket. Yet two-thirds of visitors consider the availability of a combined ticket to be important.

Comments on the study:

Rosa Hoelger, Project Manager at The Changency GmbH: “The combined ticket is highly effective: up to 24 per cent of public transport users switch to trains and buses solely because of it. To realise its economic and environmental potential, we need standardised processes across the country. This radically streamlines the process, saves money for local transport operators and opens doors for smaller events.”

Sarah Lüngen, Managing Director of The Changency GmbH:“Working on this project has shown us that the vision of a ‘combined ticket with no limits’ valid throughout Germany is difficult to implement and can only be part of the solution. However, this project has also shown us that all stakeholders involved are keen to improve the status quo and are prepared to work together on this process. After all, in the end, everyone involved stands to benefit from standardisation and the realisation of untapped potential.”

Johannes Everke, Managing Director of BDKV e.V.: “The enthusiasm for a Germany-wide combined ticket shows just how deeply rooted the desire for sustainable solutions is within the sector. But the ‘unlimited combined ticket’ is still proving to be an extremely tough nut to crack in practice. The study now provides the cultural sector and policymakers with the urgently needed hard facts to negotiate on an equal footing.

“Katja Lucker from Initiative Musik gGmbH: “Sustainable transformation is achieved through knowledge, dialogue and concrete action. This feasibility study lays an important foundation for this. By funding this project, Initiative Musik is supporting the development of practical solutions for a sustainable and resilient music industry.”

The vision, discussed at length as part of the feasibility study, of a nationwide ‘unlimited combined ticket’, which turns event tickets into Deutschlandtickets on the day of the event, has met with strong approval from organisers (85 per cent) and visitors (83 per cent and 63 per cent). Nevertheless, the study also reveals unresolved structural conflicts of interest: the enormous benefits of a Germany-wide 24-hour travel pass are in direct conflict with the proposed pricing model. As part of the study, The Changency has therefore developed an alternative proposal to demonstrate how the currently untapped potential of combined tickets can nevertheless be realised.

An overview of the key findings:

• Sustainability is the top motivation: for 95 per cent of event organisers, climate protection is the strongest reason for introducing a combined ticket.

• High interest, low uptake: 37 per cent of event organisers do not offer combined tickets, even though they are interested in doing so; as a result, only 5.5 per cent to 12 per cent of all event tickets in Germany are currently combined tickets

• The public wants a combined ticket: Around two-thirds of guests rate the integrated travel ticket as important.

• Economic benefits for local transport: Sales of combined tickets could be up to 18 times higher than they are at present.

• The price factor: Two-thirds of event organisers pay a flat fee of between €0.50 and €2.00 per ticket to transport operators. 67% consider excessive prices to be the biggest barrier to implementation.

Conclusion: The study calls for a rethink and nationwide standardisation in order to conserve resources and unlock untapped potential. To achieve this, it is essential to harness the sector’s enormous reach: with almost 540 million visitors annually – 100 million of whom attend live music events alone – the events sector has enormous leverage to help achieve the climate targets set collectively.