Long-distance bus transport experiences the greatest ups and downs in passenger transport

The boom in long-distance coach transport, triggered by the liberalisation of the market in 2013, came to an end even before the Corona crisis and fell by a further 50% last year - significantly more than any other mode of passenger transport (rail and coach).

By contrast, in the first half of 2022, the coach transport performance was almost nine times higher than the year before. The abolition of many Corona measures as well as the introduction of the 9-Euro-ticket, which have encouraged people in Germany to use public transport, have contributed to this. Although the introduction of the ticket did not take place until June 2022, the increase is visible in the transport figures for all modes for the second quarter of 2022. Despite the rise in the use of public transport, the pre-crisis level has not yet been reached by any mode of transport.

In view of the development of the transport performance (measured in passenger kilometres) of the various modes of local and long-distance transport since 2018, it is striking that this has not returned to this level for any single mode of transport (cf. Figure). Total public transport only achieves 83% of the performance at that time. The recovery is driven by long-distance rail transport and local bus transport. Long-distance bus transport is far behind, at around 24% of the 2018 level. The decline began even before the corona pandemic. This was largely due to Deutsche Bahn's aggressive pricing strategy on the one hand and the market entry of several rail competitors in long-distance transport on the other, which have eclipsed the equipment and comfort of long-distance buses with short journey times and affordable prices. In this respect, the many years of track work announced by Deutsche Bahn could play into the hands of the recovery of long-distance bus transport.

Other figures can be found here.