With the revision of the public transport law (PBefG), the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) implemented the liberalisation of long-distance bus services in Germany. The new revision became effective on 1 January 2013. The number of long-distance bus lines in Germany has grown greatly since the liberalisation of the market; by 30 June 2017, there were 216 long-distance bus lines in Germany – before the liberalisation there were only 86 lines. Due to an agreement in the coalition contract for the 18th legislature period and its inclusion as a measure in the National Action Plan 2.0 of the federal government to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the production of a handbook “Accessibility in long-distance bus transport” was commissioned as a key task of this research project (FE 82.0652/2016). The intention was to prepare the handbook as an easily understood, succinct brochure for stakeholders and also produce an accessible electronic version in the Internet. The handbook gives examples of best practice in order to support implementation in practice with descriptive and well-arranged content. The handbook not only describes statutorily required accessibility measures for long-distance buses (vehicles) but also includes infrastructure and operation. The present final report will serve as a basis for the production of the handbook. It has considerably more content than the research project in extent and depth. For example, the three action areas “vehicles”, “infrastructure” and “operation” are analysed to investigate how accessibility is implemented in practice in long-distance buses at the moment (2017). The identified measures are divided for the handbook into statutorily required measures and further optional measures. The final report also includes a comprehensive analysis and description of the statutory framework as well as an extensive list of references and sources. The results have been produced with the intensive involvement of the various stakeholders (long-distance bus companies, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, councils and operators of long-distance bus stations, representatives of the interests of people with disabilities) though discussions with experts and participation in an all-day workshop. The research project was also supported by a competent circle of consultants, which in addition to the responsible departments of the BMVI and the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt), also included representatives of two decisive stakeholders in the German association of bus companies (bdo) and the federal association of self-help for the physically disabled (BSK). (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting