Overview
- Ministers backed a coordinated push to make licenses more affordable through digital theory classes, app-based learning, wider use of simulators, fewer mandatory special drives, and a one‑third reduction of the 1,169‑question theory catalog.
- Proposals under discussion also include shortening the practical driving test to about 25 minutes and shifting more training time to simulators rather than on-road lessons.
- A federal‑state working group will deliver concrete options at the next Verkehrsministerkonferenz on 25–26 March 2026 in Lindau, and Patrick Schnieder said neither a start date nor exact savings can be stated yet.
- Officials emphasized that any streamlining must uphold traffic safety, with current Class B license costs averaging about €3,400 nationwide and even higher in Hamburg.
- Separately, ministers confirmed the Deutschlandticket will rise to €63 on 1 January 2026 and move to an index-based price from 2027, while states’ calls for higher federal operating funds for local rail were rebuffed.