The bus: An underrated component of mobility

In local public transport, the bus is the most frequently used means of transport. It has been used again for 46% of all trips since 2022 after the end of the COVID pandemic. Tram and railway share the remaining 54%. The great strength of the bus is that it can be used economically even on routes with little traffic for which rail transport is not worthwhile. It is therefore often the only possible means of public transport in rural regions and also offers the tightest supply network of all three public transport means in the city.

Around 82% of the population in Germany lives within 600 meters of bus stops with a minimum frequency of 60 minutes. In contrast, only 38% of the population are able to reach rail transport stops within a distance of 1.2km. In addition, there are more than twice as many public transport bus routes in Germany as there are tram and railway routes combined. With this density of coverage, the bus in many cases serves as a feeder and sub-distributor of rail-based public transport and usually provides users with the nearest connection. Due to the less dense rail network and the high costs per rail kilometer, regular bus transport is also the best option to enable a timely expansion of services, better connection quality and accessibility to stops by 2030.

The importance of buses in public transport will increase in the next few years, as a decisive future trend in public transport, especially in cities, is the provision of transport services that are as tailor-made and highly individualized as possible. This aims to come close to the quality of motorized private transport. With this “public transport on demand”, the public transport provider creates a suitable route again and again, depending on which travel requests have just been registered via the app. The waiting time should be only a few minutes and, if possible, door-to-door transport for each passenger is sought. This is only possible through the use of minibuses or vans. Corresponding services are offered in large cities by various mobility service providers and must also be expanded into rural areas. With the amendment to the Passenger Transport Act (PBefG), scheduled transport has been further strengthened since 2021 in order to create permanent approval options for new public transport integrated on-demand offers. A variety of vehicle sizes can also be used in bus transport for the first and last mile in rural areas in order to increase the range of services flexibly and qualitatively.

The bus is also environmentally friendly and increasingly electric. In addition to a high proportion of Euro VI buses in the total fleet of public transport companies, more and more buses with electric drives are being purchased, which contribute to climate neutrality in transport. In 2022, 1,884 buses with electrified drives were already on Germany's roads. The EU's Clean Vehicles Directive, which sets mandatory minimum quotas for the procurement of emission-free buses, provides strong impetus for this. The development of the charging infrastructure for buses in public spaces and at depots requires further extensive investments that must be made as part of the drive transition.

Since the liberalization of the long-distance bus market in Germany in 2013, the use of long-distance buses has increased rapidly. The number of passengers has risen continuously, also because many long-distance bus lines provide direct connections to destinations which, by train, could be reached only by transfer connections and usually only at higher prices. For many long-distance travelers, the bus is the only possible means of transport because, unlike the train, it is worthwhile for buses to include smaller communities in the route network where only a few people get on and off. This includes numerous cities with 20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants, many small towns with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants and even villages and communities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. This means that the long-distance bus, in addition to the train, also has an important transport policy significance. The bus is also ecologically exemplary for long-distance transport. High utilization, combined with high annual mileage, leads to regular renewal of the bus fleet.

But the bus is not just suitable for getting someone from A to B quickly and inexpensively. Over 100 million travelers use it every year for occasional travel, i.e. for organized holidays, day trips, excursions and tours.