The Impact Of Intercity Bus Services On Intercity Accessibility In Germany's Major Cities
Abstract:
In 2013, the intercity bus market was deregulated in Germany. A dense nationwide network of intercity bus travel has since been developed (Gremm, Bälz, Corbo, & Mitusch, 2019). In just five years, the intercity bus ridership increased from 3 million in 2012 to 22.8 million in 2017. Moreover, the passenger-kilometer market share rose from 2% in 2012 to 12% in 2017 (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2018). Despite the significant growth of the service that has contributed to intercity accessibility, minimal research has been done on intercity buses' exact contribution towards accessibility. Therefore, this thesis is one of the first studies in the field of intercity bus service contribution towards accessibility in Germany.
By applying objective measures of accessibility that rely on spatial, temporal, and transport components, this thesis has found out that the intercity bus services have increased its' network size by nearly 250%. Moreover, most cities can access about 20% of the network's opportunities by the year 2019. Cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, and Cologne are found to be the biggest beneficiaries of the service. Furthermore, the service has provided an alternative mode of intercity transport besides the intercity train, personal car, and plane.