Frankfurt ranks first among Germany’s major cities for public transport, study finds

Frankfurt has the best public transport offering among Germany’s major cities, according to Agora Verkehrswende’s new public transport atlas. The city recorded an average ÖV quality rating of 1.3.

Stuttgart, Munich, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Düsseldorf and Darmstadt followed closely, each with a rating of 1.4. The atlas measures how well people across Germany connect to buses and trains, considering the distance to the nearest stop, departure frequency and the type of transport available.

Researchers combined nationwide timetable data with the population grid from Germany’s census. The results also showed a sharp divide between urban and rural areas. Around 21 million people, or about one-quarter of the population, had poor or no public transport access. For roughly 5.6 million people, services did not reach even the lowest quality class.

About 30 million people had good or very good access. They lived mainly in large cities or nearby areas. Among districts, the best results came from metropolitan fringe areas such as the Munich district and the Hannover region. North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg led among the larger states.

The study attributed the stronger performance of those states partly to their urban character. Where more people live in cities, it said, authorities can organize a good public transport network more easily.