Public transport in Austria and Vienna
Austria: the country of public transport The Republic of Austria, with eight million inhabitants, is one of the smallest EU Member States. Yet, it benefits from a broad spectrum of local and regional passenger transport options. Austria's comprehensive public transport system offers a wide and well-coordinated range of services, an integrated fare system, and inter-organisational planning and information exchange to ensure smooth operations. This transport system attracts 1.6 billion passengers every year. The local hosts of the 58th World Congress and Exhibition are Wiener Linien (the Vienna transport authority); ÖBB (the Austrian Federal Railways) and VOR (the transport Association Eastern Region).
The eastern region of Austria is home to Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region (VOR). The region counts 2.5 million people, with 1.68 million inhabitants living in the centre of the region, the capital city of Vienna. In 2007, 858 million passengers benefited from VOR's 8,466 km transport network. VOR also has two additional rail transport companies: Wiener Lokalbahnen, which serves the 30 km route between Vienna and Baden, running in part on the tracks of the Vienna tram lines; and the Raaberbahn, which operates two cross-border railway lines between Burgenland and Hungary. The inhabitants of Vienna are particularly active users of public transport. In 2007, 35% trips were made by public transport, compared to only 32% by car. This rate of public transport use is one of the highest in Europe. Wiener Linien, the largest of the VOR passenger transit companies, is largely responsible for this impressive situation. Wiener Linien runs five subway lines, 28 tram lines and 83 bus lines. All Wiener Linien buses are low-floor buses running on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). In and around Vienna, ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG offers a comprehensive network of light rail and local and regional passenger transport options, and serves almost 110 million passengers in the eastern Austrian area every year. Its subsidiary ÖBB-Postbus GmbH runs long-distance and regional transportation by bus. In the region of Vienna, ÖBB-Postbus GmbH operates 75% of regional bus lines whereas twelve independent bus companies operate 25% of regional bus lines. The Park & Ride (P&R) system has greatly contributed to convincing more passengers of the advantages of using public transport, appealing particularly to commuters from more rural areas. The VOR region now has over 30,000 P&R spaces, soon to be increased to 50,000 in a large-scale initiative to extend the P&R network. Other forms of demand-responsive transport such as shared taxis are also proving successful in Vienna and the surrounding areas.
The construction and expansion of metro lines and the improvement of existing rail and bus networks are big steps towards the ambitious goal of further reducing the rate of individual motor |
ÖBB provides long-distance and regional transport both by rail and bus (through its subsidiary ÖBB-Postbus GmbH). Five Austrian cities have developed tram networks and trolleybuses are in operation in two urban centres. Ten independent railway companies, most of them part publicly owned, as well as a myriad of local and independent bus companies complete the transport offer.
The increasing integration with cross-border regions - Southern Moravia in the Czech Republic,