HOCHBAHN Annual Report 2015

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high potential demand for transport services will profit from shorter journey times on the
entire network as well as more comfortable travel into the Inner City without needing to
change trains.
Demographic change and the steadily rising proportion of senior citizens in the population
have an impact on the mobility behaviour of society. Providing barrier-free mobility
and thus improving the mobility options for everyone, for instance also for passengers
with prams, provides an opportunity to increase passenger numbers on local public
transport services. Present planning envisages providing barrier-free access to 81% of
the U-Bahn network by the end of 2018. Virtually all stations will be converted by the
beginning of the coming decade.
Since, according to the Senate’s target, from 2020 onwards only zero-emission buses
are to be procured, the HOCHBAHN is acting as a driver for the vehicle manufacturers in
actively testing and operating innovative propulsion systems in everyday bus services.
The bus number 109, the “Innovation Line“, almost exclusively runs buses with various
innovative propulsion systems. This enables them to be tested in daily practical use
under identical conditions thus giving the best possible overview of the advantages and
disadvantages of the individual technologies, which can then be specifically developed
further together with the manufacturers. In this way the HOCHBAHN is making a significant
contribution to improving air quality and noise prevention in Hamburg.
Market opportunities
The ongoing improvement in the services on offer and their expansion, together with interlocking
the different means of transport in an integrated network, make public transport
attractive and can motivate people to leave their car at home and travel by bus and rail. In
the long term, these measures will help to open up and retain whole new passenger
groups for public transport.
The road space available in Hamburg is finite, and the burden on it from continuing economic
growth with increasing commercial traffic as well as the general needs of a growing
metropolis is becoming ever greater. The negative stress on the Hamburg road system as
a result of these developments, resulting to time delays, may lead to individual travel by
car becoming less attractive. This can increase the demand for public transport services.
Continuing growth in passenger numbers is also expected in the commuter segment.
A pricing system tailored to people’s actual needs and service-orientated “one-stop
shopping” products such as P+R and B+R help to strengthen customer loyalty and
increase passenger numbers.
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