Agora ÖV Atlas 2023: Public Transport in Germany Only Mediocre and Rarely an Alternative to Cars
In terms of public transportation (PT) offerings, Germany is in the middle range compared to several neighboring countries. Particularly in Switzerland and Luxembourg, people are better connected to buses and trains. This is shown by the current PT Atlas 2023, for which the think tank Agora Verkehrswende evaluated timetable data from Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, and Switzerland. The atlas presents in an interactive map how often a bus or train departs in relation to the settlement area. According to the assessment by Agora Verkehrswende, the number of departures in the immediate vicinity is the most important factor for frequent use of public transportation.
"Buses and trains only become attractive alternatives to cars when densely scheduled and fast lines are available for everyday routes. Our analysis shows that there are still significant differences: In many places in Germany, the service is already good, and people can more likely leave their cars at home – at the same time, around half of the population is still poorly or not at all connected to public transportation. In particular, Switzerland shows with a comprehensively good service that it can be done differently. Our PT Atlas is an inventory and provides comparability. With it, we aim to provide guidance in the debate about a mobility guarantee through binding quality and service standards," explains Wiebke Zimmer, deputy director of Agora Verkehrswende.
Switzerland, Brussels, and Luxembourg lead in city comparison
At the top of the investigated cities are Geneva, Basel, Brussels, and the city of Luxembourg. They all record more than 3,700 bus or train departures per populated square kilometer on an average weekday. This corresponds to an average interval of three minutes during the day at all stops in the city. Besides the mentioned cities, other Swiss cities as well as the capitals Vienna (3,343 trips) and Copenhagen (2,078 trips) have particularly good local public transportation services. Among the major German cities, Heidelberg performs best with 1,882 trips per day and square kilometer and thus ranks 17th among all cities from the investigated countries with over 100,000 inhabitants. Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin, and Bonn follow closely with slight gaps. They are among the leaders in Germany and each offers over 1,600 trips per day and square kilometer, which corresponds on average to a departure every seven minutes at all stops during the day.
Baden-Württemberg and Northern Hesse with good PT offerings
Among the more rural regions in Germany, large parts of Baden-Württemberg as well as Northern Hesse have very good PT offerings. However, in many parts of Germany, buses in rural areas run less frequently than every two hours. Here, people are entirely dependent on using a car. This often means financial burdens or limitations on mobility and social participation – especially without a car or driver's license. Compared to other countries, it is noticeable that public transportation connections in rural areas in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark outside metropolitan areas are, on average, worse than in other investigated states. Switzerland stands out positively here, too, often ensuring bus or train connections in intervals of 30 or 15 minutes even in sparsely populated areas.
Mobility transition only with strong PT offerings
In addition to evaluating timetable data, the current edition of the PT Atlas for the first time also maps the number of privately registered cars. The comparison shows that a low number of cars usually coincides with a strong PT offering. There are cities and municipalities whose populations own relatively many cars despite good public transportation, such as in Luxembourg. But every city with a low number of cars also has a strong PT offering.
"Many cities want to reduce motorized traffic in favor of attractive streets and squares, quality of life, health, and climate protection. They can only achieve this with good bus and train connections," says Philipp Kosok, project manager for public transportation at Agora Verkehrswende.
Data Availability Important for Digital Applications and Political Decisions
The Public Transport Atlas relies on publicly accessible and standardized timetable data. From the perspective of Agora Verkehrswende, it is pleasing that the availability and quality of this data have improved in recent years. The think tank wants to further encourage transport companies and agencies to utilize digitalization opportunities to provide timetable data. This is of great value to users, for example when purchasing tickets or seeking travel information, but also for science and a factual debate on public transport in Germany.
Federal Government has Set Ambitious Goals in the Coalition Agreement
In its coalition agreement, the federal government has undertaken to establish binding standards for the quality and accessibility of public transport – already known as a mobility guarantee in Switzerland, Austria, and some German federal states. In a data analysis, Agora Verkehrswende recently calculated the expansion required for public transport in Germany to meet different levels of a nationwide mobility guarantee. For the scenario of ensuring at least a two-hourly connection for a large majority of the population, the kilometers driven in scheduled services would need to be increased by 10 percent. For an hourly service, which is considered the minimum standard by consumer and industry associations and corresponds to the usual level in Switzerland, an increase of 46 percent would be necessary. The financial basis for a mobility guarantee is to be provided by the Future and Modernization Pact between the federal government, states, and municipalities, also envisaged in the coalition agreement. Results regarding its implementation are still pending.
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