This may sound a little bizarre, but the public transportation system in Austria is offering a free pass for one year – as long as you get a KlimaTicket tattoo. The idea is all in the way of making public transport eco-friendly, but not everyone likes the idea.

Austria offers free public transport in exchange for a tattoo

It was back in October 2021 that Austria first introduced KlimaTicket, to promote public transport as a “climate-friendly alternative to motorized individual transport.” In a message on Twitter (now X) the KlimaTicket account wrote:

Do you want to be environmentally friendly and cheap like Max? – Get your #KlimaTicketNow starting October 1st!

Max (34) from St. Pölten commutes to work in Vienna every day. In future he will save more than € 400.00 per year with #KlimaTicket

Fast-forward to now, and Austria’s climate minister is trying to attract more people to lower their travel carbon footprint. In fact, the country is offering free public transport for one year to anyone willing to have the name of its local travel pass, KlimaTicket, tattooed on their body.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), road transport is the largest contributor to carbon emissions. Austria now aims to work at reducing private car usage by 16 percent by 2024.

Popup tattoo parlors in Austria

Since the announcement was made, a pop-up tattoo parlor has been featured at various events across Austria this summer. According to Euronews, the banner reads: “Action that gets under your skin.”

Meanwhile, KlimaTicket’s official Instagram account promoted getting inked at a local music festival in a July post. The caption reads in English:

This promotion is under the skin. Carry environmental protection with you and get one of our KlimaTicket logos tattooed at @electricloveaut 2023.

If you are one of the first three brave ones to have the logo or a KlimaTicket-card as a tattoo, you will be gifted a Klima ticket with a year validity!

In the shared images, KlimaTicket included an infographic revealing various tattoo illustrations. These include a railcar with the word “KlimaTicket” on the front, a heart tattoo with the message “go green” while another features a mouth ingesting a pill, reading “Klima.” Meanwhile, not everyone took the post seriously, laughing in the comment section about asking people to permanently alter their bodies just to use public transportation.

Austria’s Climate Minister promotes public transportation campaign

Meanwhile, Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s Climate Minister, supported the public transportation campaign by attending the Frequency Festival while wearing a fake tattoo. According to Euronews, the tattoo read, “Gewessler takes the lead.” Moreover, a separate video post about the campaign drew a mixture of alarm and praise in the comments section.

In the video, Gewessler said, “This has been carried out with great care. It is only done during daylight and only offered to people over the age of 18,” adding that “the people who get the tattoos mostly already have some.”

The minister’s post attracted controversy and several prominent voices, including Henrike Brandstötter of the liberal NEOS party. A post on X (formerly Twitter) reads in English:

Offering people money for putting advertising under their skin reveals an unacceptable view of humanity from a government minister.

Readers, do you think the KlimaTicket public transportation tattoo campaign is a good idea, or not? Sound off in the comments below.