In a nationwide study on the accessibility of buses and trains, Hessen achieved a place in the middle. Local transport can therefore be expanded, especially in rural areas. Frankfurt and Offenbach, on the other hand, do very well.
By Lilli Janik and Emal Atif
The Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research has in a nationwide study examines how quickly people in Germany reach public transport. The result: In Hesse, 90.6 percent of people are no more than 600 meters from a bus station or 1.3 kilometers as the crow flies from a train station. Only stops with at least 28 departures per day were taken into account.
Hesse in seventh place
This put Hessen in seventh place in a nationwide comparison. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did the worst with 66.1 percent. According to the study, only just under 75 percent of the population in Bavaria has a good connection to public transport.
The cities of Offenbach and Frankfurt performed best in Hesse, each with 99.93 percent accessibility. The two cities ranked third and fourth nationwide. Only Bonn and Mainz had slightly better accessibility. Of the Hessian districts, the Main-Taunus district was at the top with an accessibility of 99 percent. The average in the German urban districts and districts was around 86 percent.
Accessibility in the Vogelsberg district at 49 percent
With regard to accessibility by bus and train, Hessen is in many parts well positioned, comments the traffic expert Volker Blees from the Rhein-Main Hessen University of Applied Sciences. “We really have very good facilities, especially in southern and central Hesse.”
However, the connection to local transport is also very heterogeneous in Hesse, said Blees. According to the study, the proportion of people in the Vogelsberg district who can easily reach the bus and train is only 49 percent. “The very rural districts, especially Vogelsbergkreis, are simply very sparsely populated. It’s very difficult to maintain a good, economical bus service,” says Blees.
Many people dissatisfied with local transport
Despite the high accessibility in Hesse, many people are apparently dissatisfied with local public transport. So were the current Mobility barometer of the Rail Alliance around a third of those questioned were not satisfied with the number of departures.
According to Blees, this is also due to the fact that many people who do not regularly use public transport themselves do not know what offers are available. In addition, many would compare the offer with the car. For commuters in particular, the car is still the faster means of transport.
Expert: “Mobility offers must be linked”
According to traffic expert Blees, public transport can be expanded, particularly in terms of reliability and punctuality. Delays and failures are always an issue.
The main reason: Hardly any staff can be recruited and retained. “Companies have to get involved and pay well and also give their employees a certain level of security in order to increase the reputation of the profession.”
Blees also sees potential in the expansion of other offers such as rental bicycles, e-scooters, but also in car sharing. “Because buses and trains alone cannot replace your own car.” Only by combining different options could many actually do without their car. “The mobility offers must become a network.”
Even if Hesse does not look bad compared to the rest of the country, the current public transport offers are not sufficient for the necessary mobility turnaround in Germany, explains Blees.
2023-08-12 18:38:39
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