Today, Alicia, Jenita, Yemi, and I attended a meeting with representatives from DVG, Duisburg’s local transit company. We met with Birgit Adler, the Controller, and Michael Narloch, who specializes in environmental improvements. The company is part of a very impressive conglomerate of various infrastructure organizations, including energy, water, gas, and telephone.
It was evident from the moment Birgit and Michael welcomed us to DVG that they had spent an extensive amount of time preparing for our visit. They welcomed us into a conference room with a u-shaped table set up with multiple drink offerings (see pictures).
They had prepared a powerpoint presentation covering each topic of interest that I had mentioned to Birgit in our email communications leading up to the meeting, including the company’s structure, governance, and relationship to its holding company and other transit companies; ridership and other essential facts; budget and revenues; recent improvements and changes over the last few years, major goals in the coming years; and workforce development programs.Birgit and Michael talked through their presentation with us, and we asked questions along the way, creating a very engaging exchange. After the presentation, we ate lunch and had casual conversation covering topics ranging from graffiti to Cleveland weather.
After lunch, Dieter Glittenberg, head of the Grunewald tramway repair garage, took us on a tour of the garage. We were able to walk inside a tram prototype and see current trams undergoing maintenance and repair (see pictures).
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After the tour, the DVG group gave each of us DVG gift bags with pens, paper pads, candy, and a stuffed DVG mascot, Skippy Do the kangaroo. The kangaroo’s pouch (with a joey inside) represents “comfort” in a DVG bus or tram. The kangaroo represents going “fast” on a DVG bus or tram. After the exchange of gifts, Michael graciously drove us to Schwanentor to pick up the last port tour of the day.I thoroughly enjoyed learning about DVG and Duisburg from Michael and Birgit’s perspective. I think all of us Clevelanders realized from the meeting that the hearts of Duisburg and Cleveland are not too far apart, despite the difference in time, cultures, and languages. Duisburg and Cleveland were both previously heavily industrial cities that are typically not associated with the sophistication and grandeur of larger metropolises like New York City or Berlin. They are similar in population and geographical area (size). They both have ports and waterfront access. And, Duisburg seems to suffer from a lack of self-confidence, yet it has many assets that are easy to identify---just like Cleveland! I hope that we were able to encourage Birgit and Michael, because the work they have done at DVG and the work others have done in Duisburg is very impressive, especially for what they identified as an automobile-focused city.
DVG serves over 61 million passengers a year at 1,145 tram and bus stops over 421 kilometers of tracks and roads. It began a marketing campaign for the first time this year and aims for all passengers in Duisburg to use DVG and choose it for its comfort, reliability, and low cost (versus owning and maintaining an automobile). DVG strives to have a transit stop every 300 meters and to improve its stops, stations, trams, and busses so that they will be more easily accessible to seniors and individuals with disabilities. DVG has a new money back guarantee program, whereby passengers whose tram or bus is more than 10 minutes late can get their fare back. Birgit explained that through this program (which requires aggrieved passengers to fill out an on-line form), DVG can identify which routes and/or times are having problems, and then craft solutions. Rather than reduce costs by reducing service in times of hardship, DVG reinvest its savings to improve service, reliability, and customer satisfaction. The result of this strategy is increased customer satisfaction and increased ridership.
DVG is part of the VRR, the largest regional transportation unit in Europe. The VRR region includes 7.3 million residents and provides 1 billion trips per year. The VRR collects all fares for passenger trips between cities in the region and then distributes the income to each city’s transit company according to a prescribed formula. The VRR is a very impressive collaboration and demonstrates how cities with different governance, leadership, and interests, can work together to serve the interests of their residents, who want a fast and reliable transportation system.
DVG is also working to make all trams and busses digital. Currently, there is a digital display at nearly every stop showing passengers which bus or tram lines stop there and when the next four busses or trams will be arriving. Each stop also has a map showing these bus or tram lines and each route stop. DVG is working to provide a digital display on each bus or tram that shows this information for connecting routes at upcoming stops. Thus, passengers riding the S1 tram will be able to determine while they are riding whether they will make the U79 connection at the next stop, or whether they should plan a different route.
In 2007, DVG, along with the neighboring transit companies in Essen (EVAG) and Mulheim (MVG) began preparing for a merger of the three companies into one entity. As of 2008, all three companies now have the same board, and the merger is forthcoming. The merger will enable sharing of different technologies and ideas, reduce costs, and enable the new entity to think through EU and German laws just once for a particular issue, rather than three different times in three separate entities. As the merger preparation has proceeded, DVG and the other entities have also worked to prevent job losses. Employees from one entity may be shifted to another entity if a job opens up, due to a retirement or otherwise, according to the merger plan so that job losses will be minimized or eliminated in the merger. DVG used a consultant to analyze the financial impact of the merger, but for all other aspects of the merger, no consultants were used.
After learning all of this information about DVG, I believe whole-heartedly that this transit company could be a model for Cleveland. DVG has proven that you can do more with less, that it is possible to be efficient and put passengers first, and that if a transit company continually strives to innovate, passengers will realize great benefits. I can envision the day when there is an RTA stop every 300 meters in Cleveland, each equipped with a digital display showing the wait times for particular busses or trains. I can envision the day when there will be a map at each RTA stop showing every stop on each bus or train line that passes through that stop. I can envision the day when RTA's online and print timetables identify each and every stop on each RTA bus or train line. I am hoping that the recent influx of downtown residents, the economic crisis, and sustainability and environmental concerns will cause more and more people to seek out public transportation… leading to a viral spread of a different way of thinking about getting from place to place. I believe RTA can provide a world-class transportation system, but it needs our support to get there.
DVG is part of the VRR, the largest regional transportation unit in Europe. The VRR region includes 7.3 million residents and provides 1 billion trips per year. The VRR collects all fares for passenger trips between cities in the region and then distributes the income to each city’s transit company according to a prescribed formula. The VRR is a very impressive collaboration and demonstrates how cities with different governance, leadership, and interests, can work together to serve the interests of their residents, who want a fast and reliable transportation system.
DVG is also working to make all trams and busses digital. Currently, there is a digital display at nearly every stop showing passengers which bus or tram lines stop there and when the next four busses or trams will be arriving. Each stop also has a map showing these bus or tram lines and each route stop. DVG is working to provide a digital display on each bus or tram that shows this information for connecting routes at upcoming stops. Thus, passengers riding the S1 tram will be able to determine while they are riding whether they will make the U79 connection at the next stop, or whether they should plan a different route.
In 2007, DVG, along with the neighboring transit companies in Essen (EVAG) and Mulheim (MVG) began preparing for a merger of the three companies into one entity. As of 2008, all three companies now have the same board, and the merger is forthcoming. The merger will enable sharing of different technologies and ideas, reduce costs, and enable the new entity to think through EU and German laws just once for a particular issue, rather than three different times in three separate entities. As the merger preparation has proceeded, DVG and the other entities have also worked to prevent job losses. Employees from one entity may be shifted to another entity if a job opens up, due to a retirement or otherwise, according to the merger plan so that job losses will be minimized or eliminated in the merger. DVG used a consultant to analyze the financial impact of the merger, but for all other aspects of the merger, no consultants were used.
After learning all of this information about DVG, I believe whole-heartedly that this transit company could be a model for Cleveland. DVG has proven that you can do more with less, that it is possible to be efficient and put passengers first, and that if a transit company continually strives to innovate, passengers will realize great benefits. I can envision the day when there is an RTA stop every 300 meters in Cleveland, each equipped with a digital display showing the wait times for particular busses or trains. I can envision the day when there will be a map at each RTA stop showing every stop on each bus or train line that passes through that stop. I can envision the day when RTA's online and print timetables identify each and every stop on each RTA bus or train line. I am hoping that the recent influx of downtown residents, the economic crisis, and sustainability and environmental concerns will cause more and more people to seek out public transportation… leading to a viral spread of a different way of thinking about getting from place to place. I believe RTA can provide a world-class transportation system, but it needs our support to get there.
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This is a nice experience riding this transits. Usually when you think of busses you think of the bright yellow ones that you used to be forced to ride on the way to school but not anymore. Although busses are still primarily focused on bringing transportation to a large number of people at a time, they are now shifting their attention to building busses made for luxury and style. They are comfortable and fun to ride and drive.
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