A quarter of Germans lack adequate access to public transportation – report
Clean Energy Wire
More than 25 percent of Germans have poor access to local public transport, according to a report by Greenpeace, which is calling on the government to improve the situation. Based on data from Munich-based analyst firm Plan4Better, Greenpeace determined how well people can access public transport in the approximately 11,000 German municipalities, districts and federal states. The report assessed access to public transport based on the distance to the nearest stop, the type of transport and the frequency of departures.
The results underscore a clear urban-rural divide: while 78 percent of people in major cities benefit from good or very good public transport access, this figure is just 11 percent in sparsely populated rural districts, where more than half of the people are cut off from public transport.
While Germany does offer the Deutschlandticket, or “Germany Ticket,” which covers all local and regional public transport for 58 euros a month throughout the country, public transport development is still lagging far behind the federal and state goal of doubling passenger numbers by 2030 compared to 2019. This is partly due to a lack of funding, the NGO said.
"The federal and state governments like to talk about ambitious goals for the expansion of local public transport, but they are hesitant when it comes to the necessary resources,” said Greenpeace mobility expert Lena Donat. “It is a warning sign for transport policy that in 2025, a quarter of the population will still barely use a bus, let alone a train. Good local public transport guarantees that everyone can go shopping, to the doctor or to the swimming pool, and ensures affordable climate protection. The next federal government needs to boost local public transport."
Greenpeace activists in 40 cities also collected 3,600 requests from citizens for improved public transport and handed them over to representatives of the SPD and CDU parties in Berlin currently negotiating infrastructure and transport policy for the next government.
The expansion of public transport is seen as essential in decarbonising the mobility sector – a vital goal of the energy transition.
