VSPV calls for a change of course in PBefG: "The bundled demand-responsive transport is a stillbirth."

At the center of the evaluation was § 64c PBefG. The regulation was intended, among other things, to help improve the availability of barrier-free mobility options. The result, according to the VSPV (Association of Private Commercial Road Passenger Transport in North Rhine-Westphalia), was sobering. The data situation was so patchy that many developments could not be measured reliably. The assessors only speak of qualitative trend indications. Moreover, the study shows that bundled demand transports under § 50 PBefG hardly play a role in practice.

The assessment of accessibility is likewise modest. The evaluation could not detect any noticeable improvement in the availability of wheelchair-accessible vehicles since the reform took effect in 2021. Where the supply has nevertheless grown, the authors attribute this primarily to municipal funding programs for inclusion taxis and less to the statutory regulations themselves.

Reform as a whole is necessary

"The evaluation confirms what we have been saying for years: The legislator set itself a goal with the PBefG reform and missed it," explains Patrick Meinhardt, head of the association's Berlin office. "Whoever evaluates only a fragment should not be surprised by blind spots. Politics must now have the courage to put the reform as a whole to the test—and not only the chapters that have been laid out for themselves."

In fact, the study focuses on a relatively small part of the reform. Many of the issues the taxi and rental-car industry has been dealing with for years, including the impact of platform providers, the development of the rental-car market, or the effectiveness of various regulatory instruments, were not part of the evaluation.

Bundled on-demand transport: 'Stillborn'

The VSPV is particularly critical of the role of bundled on-demand transport. This transport model was introduced in 2021 with the reform of the Passenger Transport Act and was supposed to enable new forms of public transport. In practice, however, its significance remained limited.

"Bundled on-demand transport is a stillbirth, and expensive on-demand experiments fail time and again due to profitability and sustainability," says VSPV managing director Sascha Waltemate. Instead, the association sees the public-transport taxi as a viable alternative. "The reliable backbone of a public offering beyond the line network is and remains the public-transport taxi."

This assessment is likely to be supported by large parts of the taxi industry. Many municipal on-demand projects have struggled for years with high subsidy needs and low passenger numbers. At the same time, various regions have had good experiences integrating existing taxi companies into public local transport. The model is considered comparatively flexible, as existing vehicles, drivers, and operating structures can be used.