With a new public transport concept, local public transport in Bochum should become more attractive with new forms of mobility. As part of a preparatory study, a new urban rail and streetcar network was developed and a completely new bus network drawn up.
Bochum: New concept for attractive public transport
Attractive public transport offerings are the backbone of urban mobility. The experts at PTV Transport Consult can help you design public transport combined with new mobility services so that you’ll be fit for the future.
Project description
Making public transport fit for the future and operating it economically at the same time - those were the goals of the project in Bochum. In the preparatory study, PTV consultants examined the bus and streetcar network. Here, structural and demographic developments as well as traffic changes had to be taken into special account. Thanks to the tight networking of the public transport network with adjacent cities, such as Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen, it was also important to incorporate these cities’ concerns and goals.
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SWOT analysis and planning phase
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PTV Visum software was the key to the analysis and planning. It was used to record the complex transport relationships, optimize planning, calculate the transit and economic KPIs, and visualize the results. With a SWOT analysis, the consulting team defined numerous starting points and fields of action for the new public transport network. Thus, for example, it was possible to retain the advantages of the existing line network - such as direct connections - in the new line network.
During the planning process, the planned headway changes on the local train network of the Rhine-Ruhr Verkehrsverbund and its effects on the timing of public transport in Bochum were a central aspect. Thanks to the introduction of the Rhine-Ruhr-Express, the schedule for the regional trains was converted to a 15-minute headway. For the city of Bochum, the question was whether the 20-minute basic headway should be retained or whether a 15-minute headway should be offered.
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Workshops for citizen participation
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Active participation by citizens played an important role in the planning process. In the course of two workshops, the existing public transport network and its advantages and disadvantages, as well as the new line network and its effect were discussed and suggestions collected. Furthermore, citizens could take an online survey that was posted for several weeks to incorporate numerous ideas, suggestions, and comments into the new line network.
Political representatives of the city of Bochum were also integrated into the planning process. This ensured that the analysis and interim results were presented and discussed by political committees. The results gained were thus incorporated directly into the planning.
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Development of the new public transport network
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Based on these analyses, goals, requirements, and future developments, a new urban rail and streetcar network was developed and a completely new bus network established. The steps to accomplish this included:
- Specification of line design and transport services
- Definition of connectors to achieve high connection quality
- Determination of the infrastructure measures required
- Demand forecasting
- Economic assessment of the new line network, such as kilometers traveled, vehicle requirements, additional revenues
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Implementation at the end of 2019
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At the end of 2019, the new line network was implemented with the name “Network 2020” on the basis of the following additional requirements for the new public transport concept:
- 50 additional stops constructed
- 10 additional streetcar vehicles
- 15 additional buses
- 120 additional employees for operation
- 7.5% more kilometers driven
The implementation was received very positively by citizens and passengers.