Berlin. According to one study, only about 27 million German citizens have access to very good local public transport in large cities and metropolitan areas. For the approximately 55 million people who live in the vicinity or in rural areas, this offer is scant and often inadequate, as shown by a mobility study conducted by Ioki, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, of which Funke The media group’s newspapers reported on Wednesday.

Germany has a dense network of 230,000 stops for buses and trains. But less than half will be served hourly or more frequently in the country. In larger cities, 80 percent of residents have at least one hour’s service.

For better connections, more on-demand shared taxis should be used as part of public transport, as reported in the study. “With flexible vehicles that are available on demand via an app in front of the door and drive to the next bus or suburban train station, an offer in public transport could be offered to approximately 25 million people,” Ioki Managing Director Michael Barrilier-Scholz told Den Newspapers. Deutsche Bahn has already integrated 330 such on-demand transport into local public transport, transporting approximately 7 million passengers.