Germany must make public transport services attractive where car use is heaviest – think tank

Germany must improve its public transport services in areas with the heaviest road traffic to reduce the number of kilometres travelled by private car, think tank Agora Verkehrswende said in a report analysing access to public transport. 

“Doubling [public transport] passenger numbers will only be possible with a good to very good transport offering on the high-commute-volume routes between large and medium-sized towns and their surrounding areas,” it said. 

The think tank analysed timetables, how far people lived from public transport stops, the mode of transport and its frequency, and then ranked the quality of the service. It found that the proportion of kilometres travelled by public transport increased with the quality of connections, while fares, parking and customer habits also playing a role.

“Improving services in areas where there is a high volume of car use is therefore crucial for climate protection,” the think tank wrote.  

Around 21 million people – just over a quarter of Germany’s population – live in areas that fall short of the think tank’s classification of a good basic service: a stop around 250 metres away, with departures at least every 30 minutes on weekdays, according to the report. Of those, around 5.6 million live in areas that do not even reach the lowest service category and effectively depend on private cars to get around.

“A binding minimum service level is the first step towards better public transport across the board in Germany,” said Agora Verkehrswende head Wiebke Zimmer.

Transport is responsible for about one-fifth of Germany’s emissions, most of it from road traffic. The sector’s emissions have remained stubbornly high in the past decades. Cars remain the main mode of transport for most people and a large share of the stock runs on combustion engines, according to a survey by TÜV Association, the umbrella body for technical certifier organisations. 

Moreover, efficiency gains in combustion engine technology have largely been balanced by a tendency among customers to buy heavier and more fuel-intensive car models, such as SUVs. 

Electric vehicles, as well as a shift from cars to public transport and more walking and cycling are seen as key to decarbonising the sector.