HVV, refugees and transport fees: That's what's behind it!

What was a big topic in 2015 is no longer valid in 2018.

An outcry has been going through Facebook (again!) for a few days now: The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund GmbH is letting all asylum seekers travel for free! This statement is accompanied by a sharepic showing a group of young men getting on a bus. The accompanying text speaks clearly: “Asylum seekers are now officially allowed to fare evade” and “[…] for strangers is now completely permitted”. Hard sentences, the question now is: Where do they come from and what is behind them?

And in fact you will find what you are looking for if you want to know what this is about: The whole story dates back to August 2015. Anyone who suspects that this is a current scandal will clearly be disappointed. The story is almost three years old and was already in the media and social media in the form of this sharepic. Mimikama also 2015 .

In this respect, one can first say: The topic has no current relevance .

Origin

Since it is almost three years old, searching for background and origin is quite easy at this point. The original presentation of the content, as well as parts of the sentences from the sharepic, were taken from an article in BILD , which appeared on August 3rd, 2015. This one has the headline:

FOR FEAR OF “BAD PRESS”
HVV turns a blind eye to refugees

Hamburg – For fear of “bad press”, the HVV has instructed its ticket inspectors to turn a blind eye to refugees who are found without a ticket.

This emerges from an internal letter from the company, which is available to BILD.

This clarifies the origin of the content itself. The sentences are based on a BILD headline. On the same day, parallel to the article in BILD, an article appeared in WELT (also Springer Verlag), in which the same story was published, but more profound and far less sensational. The WELT article from August 3, 2015 states:

Refugees should be controlled with “a sense of proportion”.

An internal email from the Hamburg Transport Association states that the reasons for invalid ID cards are often language problems. However, the association does not see the procedure as a gateway to fare evasion.

This article differentiates more clearly how people with weak language skills are treated by inspectors. By the way, it is also made clear here that it is not just about refugees, but that knowledge of the language and tariff system is of paramount importance and that the same tact should also be used when dealing with tourists who accidentally buy the wrong card, for example.

Thesis: Fare evasion officially?

Whether in 2013, 2015 or 2018: fare evasion has never been officially permitted by the HVV. The Sharepic draws a conclusion that is wrong. Since it was older, this topic was also discussed among the Hamburg citizens. The MP Dennis Thering (CDU) directly asked a small written question on August 3, 2015, which was answered on August 11, 2015 and be seen publicly . In it you can read, among other things:

There are no special regulations for asylum seekers who use the HVV. In the HVV's internal email, people were asked to be treated with a sense of proportion, as is also the case for tourists. This sense of proportion only applies to passengers with valid tickets. Passengers without a valid ticket will, without exception, be charged an increased transport fee. This is taught to the ticket examiners in regular training courses.

In order to prevent language difficulties in particular, the HVV now points out in several languages ​​on the website (including in Arabic!) that you must have a valid ticket. ( comparisons )

You can get tickets, for example, from bus drivers, at machines, at service points, via the Internet or via the HVV app. We explain how the purchase works in our brochure “Get started with HVV” in German, English, Arabic and Farsi. You can reach this via the link below.

2015 –> 2018

What still had some core truth in 2015 is a flat-out misrepresentation in 2018. The topic became a long-running issue in Hamburg. Hamburger Abendblatt wrote under the title “Every refugee must buy an HVV monthly ticket” on November 27th, 2015:

Now the city is reacting. According to Abendblatt information, from the beginning of 2016 every refugee who arrives in the Hanseatic city will be provided with a monthly bus and train ticket, which they will also have to pay for.

This also happened and so one has to say very clearly: This sharepic no longer has any truth for the year 2018 . On the HVV website you can find out that refugees are automatically assigned a mobility card when they register in Hamburg:

The HVV mobility card for registered refugees assigned to Hamburg in initial reception centers (ZEA) in Hamburg is issued to refugees upon initial registration.

The transport fee for this is automatically deducted from your pocket money. In this respect, refugees who are properly registered in Hamburg cannot fare evade. This card is also only issued in the administrative branches in Hamburg.

Final info

The photo used in the sharepic has absolutely nothing to do with Hamburg. The photo was taken in Gorbitz and has no connection to this topic.