Route Planning Ravensburg

Initial Situation

The goal of the local public transport plan is to define and establish the public transport service for the coming years. Service standards are set as binding requirements. This includes the frequency and number of trips of the lines at different times of day and the catchment areas of the stops. Gaps in coverage are to be closed, and weaknesses in service provision are to be addressed to ensure equitable access across the district. The objectives of the mobility transition are to continue to be pursued despite the current negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport.

With nearly 285,000 inhabitants, the district comprises central towns as well as very rural areas with low population density.

Public transport in the district is characterized by:

• Regional rail connections within the district and to destinations outside the district
• Regional bus lines providing service along major axes
• Strong regional school transport lines within the district
• Urban bus systems in selected municipalities

Task

The development of the local public transport plan was divided into two main components. The first component includes the analysis of the current situation and the planning of future public transport for the district. Key aspects of the local transport plan were integrated into the planning process. Upon completion of the future public transport concept, the local transport plan is derived as a framework plan, and further necessary tasks are carried out, such as the definition of quality objectives, route bundling, and the consultation process.

Throughout these steps, regional transport operators and political representatives of the district council were closely involved in various meetings and discussion rounds. In addition, citizens were consulted within the framework of a participation concept during the development of goals and measures.

Approach

After analyzing the existing bus network and demand, future public transport topics were identified through a strengths-weaknesses analysis. For the long-term structuring of regional public transport, a corridor concept was developed, which defines the service offering depending on the specific route. This includes the route alignment and service frequency on different days of operation. For settlement areas between the corridors, an on-demand transport system was planned, providing passengers within the area as needed or acting as a feeder to selected connection points on the corridor bus lines.

Several expansion standards were defined based on scenarios, and their impacts—particularly on economic efficiency—were assessed. This allowed the district to quickly recognize the effects of individual scenarios and discuss their feasibility.

The potential funding of regional bus lines by the state of Baden-Württemberg was an important factor in developing the concept. It was integrated into the target concept and considered in the economic assessment. For a technically and politically sensible implementation of the plan, a coordinated prioritization of measures was carried out, which is also economically justifiable for the district.

With the developed target scenario, the network planning was completed, allowing the remaining tasks for the local transport plan to be addressed. The public transport concept forms a key element of the local transport plan.

Additionally, the following tasks were carried out:

• Definition of quality standards
• Package of measures and route bundling
• Consultation process