We have uniform standards for mobile communications and the power network. Why not also with public transport?
Have you ever heard of the VGC? Or from the VVO? We know the HVV and the VBB, but the VGRI is probably unknown to most people. The abbreviations stand for various transport associations in Germany and are, so to speak, a synonym for a convoluted, outdated structure of local public transport in Germany.
Germany has over 60 transport associations. Each with its own administration, its own tariff logic, its own IT architecture and its own revenue rules. This has grown historically and can be explained politically. Local transport is the responsibility of states, districts and cities. Federalism is not a mistake here, but a fundamental principle. But not every level has to organize everything itself.
Public transport needs new standards
We accept national standards in almost all other infrastructure areas. Nobody is demanding sixteen different power frequencies or individual cell phone protocols per district. Only in local transport do we defend fragmentedness as a feature of identity. Maybe this is part of the problem. Not in the lack of money alone. But in the energy we put into managing complexity.
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Regionality definitely makes sense. Central controls are not granular enough when it comes to managing the needs of public transport users between the Allgäu, Lower Lusatia and the North Sea. Routing, timing and school traffic are better handled by those who live there. But does every region really need its own tariff logic? Own zone models, backend systems or rules for revenue distribution?
The Germany ticket was proof of how powerful simplification can be. One price for a product that works nationwide. For passengers it was a revolution of clarity. For the system behind it, it became an administrative effort. The distribution of revenue had to be organized through a network of different network structures, contractual situations and IT systems that were never built for national unity.
The ticket showed: Standardization works. But she encounters a landscape designed for fragmentation.
400 million euros in additional income
The question of costs is rarely discussed soberly. The entire public transport in Germany costs around 39 billion euros annually. Nobody will suddenly release billions through structural reforms. But bundling over 60 associations into a leaner, nationwide structure could realistically save 200 to 400 million euros per year – through fewer duplicate IT backends, harmonized tariff models, simplified billing and lower administrative effort.
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That’s only one percent of the total effort, but in public transport one percent is an enormous amount. One percent finances additional connections, better service or more staff. And that year after year. Yes, centralization must not stifle regional control. But that’s not the point. It’s not about Berlin drawing route plans in the provinces. It’s about common standards where scaling makes sense – in tariffs, data models, sales systems and billing.
The bus doesn’t come any faster just because 60 committees are discussing it. And the people who use public transport don’t care which association is responsible for what. They want reliable, cost-effective and safe local transport. If you want to simplify mobility, you must first simplify its structure. And over 60 transport associations are simply too many.
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