Economic effects: Study: public transport does much more than it costs

Public transport (public transport) is considered to be chronically underfunded – every euro invested pays off economically several times in the bus and train, as a study shows. Accordingly, the economic performance of the public transport per year is around 75 billion euros on average. “This corresponds to the triple of its annual costs,” says the investigation, which the consulting company MCube of the Technical University of Munich created on behalf of Deutsche Bahn.

“The actual added value should be significantly higher, since some effects could not be completely taken into account for methodological reasons,” the authors write.

Direct and indirect added value

The study tries to identify and quantify certain economic effects of public transport. McBube is based on industry data from the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), the Federal Statistical Office and on already carried out studies on the gross value added of traffic operators.

The direct and indirect added value of local transport itself plays a role – i.e. the production value of the direct employment that is generated by bus and rail operations and the associated direct employment. “An example of direct added value is the municipal bus company, which creates sales and direct jobs with its income from the line.” The indirect added value, on the other hand, arises in the upstream economic sectors, i.e. for train builders, energy suppliers or IT service providers.

In addition, public transport also has external economic effects. A well -developed local transport increases the attractiveness of regions for tourism. He also ensures that commuters come to work. A good connection, for example, strengthens the attractiveness of employers and also affects economic output. This commuter effect alone makes up more than a quarter of the entire middle added value of public transport, according to the study.

The data therefore have some weaknesses. On the one hand, they relate to 2019 to avoid corona distortions. They also contain estimates because not all assumptions are statistically stored. Nevertheless, the data used are objectively, well -founded and methodically coordinated. They showed that public transport not only had a central role in sustainable mobility and care, but is also an economic service provider.

Local transport in Germany is financed by about half of the federal passenger income and funds, the so -called regionalization funds. The sums grow every year. Nevertheless, from the point of view of the industry, they are no longer sufficient for the company. Some countries are already reducing the offer due to a lack of funds.