Germany’s public transport companies say more than 3 million people have already bought a new ticket being launched on Monday that allows them to use all local and regional trains, buses and metros across the country for $53.90 a month.

The new German banknote aims to encourage people to abandon their cars in favor of more environmentally friendly forms of transport. It follows an experimental €9 “all you can ride” ticket that proved successful last year but officials said was not financially viable.

The new ticket is seen as a revolution in Germany’s broken public transport system, where dozens of regional companies offered a myriad of different fare options that baffled many commuters.

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The German ticket will be valid for almost all forms of public transport, except long-distance intercity trains. Cross-country travel will still be possible on regional trains, significantly reducing costs for some people who used to pay hundreds of euros a month for their regular commutes.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised the new ticket as “an easy and cheap offer that will make public transport more attractive and help us achieve our climate goals”.

Anti-poverty campaigners have called for tickets, which are already subsidised, to be made even cheaper, at least for families, young people and people on low incomes, for whom it still remains an expensive option.

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