Bus of the Future

Towards intelligent mobility.

- Hartmut Schick

We’ve already heard quite a bit about trucks today. However, it is worth referring to a few developments in the bus industry, especially in the realm of city buses. It is clear that the city bus sector will see major changes in the years to come. And, of course, I would like to give a few hints about what can be expected at IAA Commercial Vehicles Fair in September.

At the moment, team and fan buses are in the news almost every day. But the city bus doesn’t make headlines, perhaps because it is an established part of our everyday lives. The bus is an integral part of every modern urban center. In fact, it is one of the most important means of public transportation. In Germany alone, buses were used over 5 billion times in 2015.

We expect similar trends to continue around the world as the global population increasingly moves to cities. In 2015, 3.7 billion people around the world were city dwellers. Forecasts suggest that by 2025 the figure will rise to some 4.7 billion. These people want to get from A to B on time, easily, and comfortably. Today, the streets are already jam-packed, and as the number of people living and working in cities continues to grow, the situation is not likely to improve.

The city bus offers a practical solution here: it can take many passengers to their destinations quickly and reliably. And its systems costs for city operators are the lowest. While this is definitely very good for our industry, it doesn’t mean that the city bus is a sure thing. Indeed, it faces competition from other modes of transportation: subways and commuter trains, car sharing, taxies, cars, and bicycles. A recent study that analyzed the potential of urban public transit networks showed that public transport could have been used for almost half of the routes travelled. However, public transport was used for only about 15 per cent of all trips.