Public transit research and development in Germany

This paper provides an overview of the situation of public transit in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as its integration into considerations of transportation policy. It is the goal of transportation policy to effect a shift of parts of urban automobile traffic to public transit. Beyond restrictions on private vehicle travel this requires an improvement of the service quality of public transit. Research and development in public transit serve this goal. The emphasis of research is in the following areas: organization of public transit, expansion of fixed-guideway transit systems in major cities, use of demand-responsive operation modes with low travel demand, improvement of transit network and schedule structure, acceleration and stabilization of transit vehicle progression, improvement of comfort levels for access and transport, differentiation of fares and simplification of fare structure, improvement of passenger information and assistance and rationalization of service provision.