From Lithuanian cities to Bavarian transport associations: a public transport tool for every need
How a single tool can be used to improve and digitise public transport in a wide variety of contexts.
Content:
1. Development of public transport
2. One platform – many perspectives
3. Kaunas: streamlining route networks, increasing passenger numbers
4. Solihull: improving accessibility, avoiding transfers
5. TTK: making advice more efficient and comprehensible
6. AMINA: a data-driven future
7. Why it works: simple, transparent and practical
8. Not a technological luxury project
Development of public transport
After passenger numbers on local public transport declined sharply due to the coronavirus pandemic, demand has been rising again since 2022. For example, VDV member companies transport 26 million passengers every day throughout Germany by bus and train. Statista expects the global public transport market volume to rise to €313.570 billion, which corresponds to an annual growth rate of 3.14% (compound annual growth rate 2025-2030). However, smaller or more remote communities in particular are seeing a decline in passenger numbers, as supply and demand are often increasingly diverging.
Nevertheless, public transport is expected to grow in importance worldwide. And although many cities and municipalities have their own characteristics, the challenges facing public transport are similar. On the one hand, commuter flows from the surrounding areas are growing. On the other hand, there are increasing demands for data quality and efficiency, as well as pressure to achieve climate targets. Cities and regions of all sizes, structures and administrative forms are looking for solutions: they want to not only modernise their public transport, but also make it efficient and sustainable. So the problem is the same – but can the solution be too?
One platform – many perspectives
Whether city administrations, transport associations or public transport consultants – all transport planners need tools that make complex transport systems easier to plan. In practice, however, it often turns out that the available systems are too technical, too complex or not tailored to the needs of individual user groups.
PTV Lines is a browser-based planning tool designed to close this gap. The cloud-based software simplifies route and timetable design, provides intuitive access to data-based analyses and clearly visualises optimisation potential – without the need for in-depth modelling knowledge. In several European projects, the solution has already proven how a tool can help various stakeholders transform public transport.
Kaunas: streamlining route networks, increasing passenger numbers
In the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, the population in the city centre declined while the suburbs grew. However, the existing bus network was unable to meet the changing demands. Many routes ran redundantly through the city centre, resulting in long waiting times and inefficient operations.
Using PTV Lines, the transport company Kauno Autobusai created a digital model of the route network. By analysing movement data and an origin-destination matrix (OD matrix), overlapping routes – such as between lines 1 and 46 – were identified and specifically eliminated. Thanks to this data-based planning, not only were routes optimised, but timetables were also improved. Initial successes show that passenger numbers are rising again.
Solihull: Improving accessibility, avoiding transfers
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) in Solihull, UK, faced a problem familiar to many regions: people living in the suburbs have to travel to work, school or even hospitals every day – with inadequate public transport connections.
By using PTV Lines, TfWM was able to simulate various scenarios and restructure the X12 line. The result: over 1,300 more households can now reach central facilities without having to change buses. The intuitive user interface made it possible to make informed and politically viable decisions within a very short time. Physical constraints such as bridge heights were also easily incorporated into the planning.
TTK: Making consulting more efficient and transparent
Not only operators and administrations benefit – consulting firms such as TransportTechnologie-Consult GmbH, or TTK for short, also use PTV Lines to increase the quality and efficiency of their planning services. As part of a Friendly User Test (FUT), TTK used the software in the Fougères project area (France).
The aim was to evaluate the existing bus network ahead of the change of operator in 2026 and to make recommendations for restructuring. The test phase revealed clear advantages:
• 50% time savings in calculating network indicators
• Seamless integration of school and holiday timetables
• Quick comparability of scenarios for internal workshops and political decision-making
‘PTV Lines is an extremely valuable tool for quickly creating scenarios, and the map-based visualisation immediately contributes to a better understanding,’ summarises Ralf Frisch, transport expert and Business Development Manager at PTV Group. ‘This allows planned restructuring of the public transport network to be evaluated in a meaningful way.’
AMINA: Data-driven into the future
The Bavarian transport association AMINA is pursuing a particularly strategic approach. The aim is not only to optimise individual lines, but also to establish a regional transport model with an integrated database – the so-called REMOSI model.
With the support of PTV Lines and PTV Visum, existing networks were analysed, new routes were planned, e.g. express bus routes between Aschaffenburg and Marktheidenfeld, and the effects of planned measures on travel times, demand and environmental impact were calculated. A particular focus was placed on the interaction between route planning, demand development and ecological goals.
Why it works: simple, transparent and practical
What all four application examples have in common is not only the technology used, but above all the way in which it is applied. The software used reduces the barriers to entry for data-based service planning and makes it easy to get started with digitalisation – whether in rural areas, large cities or inter-municipal cooperation.
‘Regardless of the specific characteristics or challenges of a city, transport associations and consulting firms need clarity, flexibility and comprehensive data management for their decision-making. This is the only way to make public transport future-proof and digital,’ says Frisch.
The software not only provides a valid basis for decision-making, but also facilitates communication between specialist departments, political bodies and the public – an often underestimated success factor in transport projects.
Not a luxury technology project
‘The digital transformation of public transport is not a technological luxury project,’ says Frisch, ‘it is a necessary prerequisite for sustainable and climate-friendly mobility.’ PTV Lines shows how digitalisation can work in a pragmatic and user-oriented way in service planning. And that's regardless of the application.
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