Citizens’ involvement and the representation of passenger interests in public transport: Dimensions of a long‐neglected area of transport planning and policy with case studies from Germany

Abstract

Unlike many other industries, public transport is dominated by monopoly conditions and there is a strong political influence on the service provided. The traditional position of its users has also been weak where private enterprise plays a greater role. The paper analyses users' role in this sector and proposes to allocate their interests to the political, planning, provision and customer service levels. Suggestions for user representation and involvement are discussed. Experience to date suggests that competition ‘for the market’ also encourages a better provision for passengers’ needs, although the political influence is also likely to remain strong in the future.

Acknowledgements

The paper was based on research sponsored by the Volvo Research Foundation. The author is grateful to the Foundation for its support and interest in this subject. An earlier, shorter version of the paper was included as a poster presentation at the Foundation’s ‘Future Urban Transport’ Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 21–24 September 2003. The author gratefully acknowledges the contribution of material and literature reviews from Annika Kramer, Martin Schönberg, Carolin Schröder, Kornelia Konrad and Bernhard Truffer. Thanks are also due to Matthias Löwe, Thomas Büttner and Julian Heathcote for reviewing the draft text.

Notes

The terms ‘users’, ‘customers’ and ‘passengers’ are used as synonyms, despite the slight differences in meaning.

For general literature on planning cells, see Dienel (1999).

That is, ‘not in my back yard’, planners’ jargon for protests that mainly aim to keep the protestors’ personal environment unaffected by a development.

Author’s translation from the German standard DIN 55 350.

Translated quotation from Rainer Engel (Pro Bahn) from the conference ‘Derailed—Aus dem Gleis’, 5 June 2002, Berlin, Germany.

The references in this section provide some examples of the debate, but represent only a small part of the discussion. An overview is given by the submissions to the hearing of the Federal Parliamentary Sub‐Committee on Consumer Affairs, Nutrition and Agriculture, 5 May 2003 (minutes available at: http://www.bundestag.de/gremien15/a10/protokolle/protokoll12.pdf) (accessed on 5 February 2004).