5. Demographic Effects on Passenger Transport Demand

Demographic change in Germany will lead to a remarkable change in the composition of the population, particularly in terms of the ageing of society with the prospect of a population decrease. These factors are the main determinants for future travel demand. This chapter describes the procedure of modelling transport for 2030 and illustrates the results with regard to the infrastructure. The findings of the Rostock Center serve as the main basis for the data in the transport model, belonging to the family of microscopic activity-based demand models. The future passenger transport demand will decrease in most areas. The workload of the road infrastructure will decrease correspondingly. Differences of the impact between the two demographic scenarios are low. Findings show significant spatial differences. The western part of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, will experience some trip increases, but most of the regions will face a decrease in transport demand. Public transport in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will not gain any more passengers in the future. We therefore conclude that the planning process for infrastructure should include a proper approach that assesses the options of disassembling streets and restructuring them. Criteria for making this decision should not be the workload of the road, but rather accessibility questions. Future land use management will also play an important role.