VRR, the public transport authority of the German
Rhine-Ruhr conurbation (7.2m inhab. on a
5,000 km2 territory), incites passengers of public
transport to use bicycle to go to stations.
More than
8,000 bicycles can be parked close to stations, and
the number is growing very fast. A list of these Bike
and Ride facilities can be downloaded from VRR’s
website.
More and more cities are also providing
some boxes so as to protect bicycles from theft and
bad weather. 1,000 such boxes can already be
rented by passengers with an electronic card that
gives access to the box.
VRR has launched in 2003 an initiative aiming to
improve and integrate the information provided by
the 27 transport companies operating networks on
its territory.
The objective is to inform the passengers
in a faster, more flexible and more personalised
way about the latest news of public transport
systems, whatever their company.
The internet will
be a key tool, but telephone call centre and more
traditional devices (paper information) will also be
used. Implementation is expected in 2005.