Transport development plan 2035

As part of the framework agreement between Deutsche Bahn (DB), the state of Hesse, the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) and the Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund (NVV), Offenbach's main railway station is scheduled for barrier-free expansion from 2026. This includes, for example, barrier-free accessibility, level boarding and alighting at the platforms, orientation systems and weather-protected seating.

At the same time, the entire station building is to be upgraded, modernized and revitalized in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, the city and the Central Station Initiative. The plans were substantiated by a feasibility study (published in 2022) and checked for their feasibility. The aim is to create a model project for participation that gives civil society groups space to develop and take responsibility. For example, passenger-specific services and commercially usable space for offices and restaurants are to be provided in the station's reception building.

In connection with the redesign of the adjacent bus station, an ideas competition is to be held for the design of the area around the station. The key measure A3 "Conversion and enhancement of the attractiveness of the main station in connection with the station renovation program" is therefore closely linked to measure A6 "Reorganization of the central bus station and the area around the main station".

Accordingly, a coordinated urban redevelopment and revitalization of the station area is to be planned and implemented within this framework. Offenbach's main railway station could thus also be developed into a modern mobility hub for national, regional and local transport, which would also further revitalize the area.

In this context, the conversion and increased attractiveness of Offenbach's main railway station offers a suitable framework for bringing pilot projects, pilot projects or sub-projects of the Offenbach 2035 VEP to life for the public.

The aim of this measure is to better harmonize the different functions of streets.

For Waldstraße (section: Bleichstraße to Geleitsstraße), Kaiserstraße (section: Geleitsstraße to Große Marktstraße) and Mainstraße (section: Arthur-Zitscher-Straße to Kaiserstraße), restrictions on the maximum permitted speed have already been implemented as part of the legally binding clean air plan. If necessary, further main roads are to be examined with regard to (sectional) traffic calming in order to take into account justified concerns, for example traffic safety, air pollution control, noise reduction or due to an amendment of the legal basis. In order to avoid negative side effects, the entire road network should be considered. The current legal basis sets strict limits on deviations from the standard speed limit in urban areas on main roads (50 km/h). Prerequisites currently include, in particular, the elimination of an above-average hazard situation or areas in particular need of protection. An effective implementation of this measure therefore requires a (nationwide) amendment of the legal regulations for a reduced urban speed limit. This basic prerequisite is not the responsibility of the city of Offenbach am Main, but the city can position itself accordingly in the relevant committees.

Furthermore, various road sections are currently being examined with regard to the reorganization of available areas (for example, the reorganization of Mainstraße with regard to traffic calming). If there is a corresponding need, this review should be extended to other main roads.

Redistribution of space and speed reduction generally have a positive effect on noise and pollution levels as well as traffic safety, reduce the separating effect of highly frequented road sections and can contribute to a reduction in the amount of space required for traffic facilities that comply with regulations. In addition, this measure supports orderly urban development. Furthermore, the competitive situation of the environmental network is improved by adjusting the speed level of other means of transport.

As part of the overall concept, it must be ensured that there are no significant displacement effects in the downstream network, in particular by taking appropriate account of the interests of the environmental alliance and ensuring that there are no significant disadvantages for local public transport.

The VEP Offenbach 2035 is not a finished work, but is to be continuously evaluated and updated in order to be able to react appropriately to changes in the framework conditions.

This requires a structured impact assessment (evaluation) and the monitoring of traffic development in Offenbach am Main. These two procedures form the basis for assessing the expected contribution of the measures to the mission statement. If deviations from the expected development are identified, this justifies a revision of the content of the fields of action and, if necessary, the measures.

The evaluation covers several levels:

• Review of the planning and implementation of measures: a regular review of the progress made in the design and implementation of measures should be carried out with regard to the achievement of milestones to be defined in the planning of measures. Planning obstacles may need to be removed or personnel resources may need to be reorganized or made available. It should also be taken into account whether the framework conditions for planning have changed significantly, for example due to technological, legal, financial or political developments.

• Monitoring of key data on general traffic development: As part of a regular analysis and assessment of traffic development, suitable indicators (for example modal split, car density, public transport usage figures, utilization of parking garages, etc.) must be identified and regularly reviewed. Empirical data is suitable for this purpose and should be collected at regular intervals using a consistent system wherever possible. The data collection methods should be recorded and, if necessary, longer-term agreements on data collection should be made. At the beginning of the process, it should be checked whether existing data management tools can be used or whether they should be expanded or newly developed to ensure that data collection, evaluation and communication are optimized in the medium to long term. The transparency of data collection can be ensured, for example, through internet-based "data cockpit mobility".

• Monitoring the impact of individual measures: Suitable indicators (e.g. the comparison of traffic volumes before and after the implementation of individual measures or the documentation of the work status/progress in the implementation of the measures) must be developed for impact assessment as early as the planning stage of the individual measures of the VEP Offenbach 2035. These are to be recorded at least by means of a before/after comparison. For measures with longer-term impact mechanisms, it may be appropriate to carry out the follow-up surveys at several intervals. The indicators should be recorded as empirically as possible and be quantitatively assessable. Indicators should be defined jointly with other project participants on a measure-specific basis before the measure is implemented. Care must be taken to ensure that the indicators can be recorded with reasonable effort and are available in sufficient quality.

• Evaluation of the planning and participation process: By evaluating the planning and participation process, experience and findings from the development of the VEP should be incorporated into the implementation of the measures and future updates in order to achieve continuous optimization. The evaluation should be carried out together with the key planners involved, for example through a recorded feedback meeting. Public participation is to be maintained at regular intervals in the form of information on the progress of the implementation of VEP projects.

From 2035, only zero-emission cars may be newly registered. It is expected that the majority of vehicles registered by then will be battery-powered. The proportion of battery-powered vehicles in all newly registered cars is already increasing today.

This switch to electromobility requires the timely provision of a nationwide and needs-based e-charging infrastructure. If this succeeds, additional positive effects on Offenbach's attractiveness as a residential and business location can be expected. At present, however, Offenbach am Main has some catching up to do in terms of e-charging infrastructure.

In order to implement a comprehensive and needs-based e-charging infrastructure, the first step is to examine the requirements of the existing electricity infrastructure in Offenbach and coordinate these with the relevant municipal suppliers. Furthermore, the framework conditions for the e-charging infrastructure are to be defined. The focus here is on the following questions: what services, technology and capacities can be made available on public streets, in neighborhood and collective garages, by companies and in the private sector, what requirements must be met and in what time frame must this provision take place. Private households without their own parking space and therefore without their own charging facilities must also have access to e-charging infrastructure. At this point, fast charging stations that enable charging at public or commercial locations can be expedient. Once an overall concept has been drawn up, taking into account various framework conditions, the nationwide expansion of the e-charging infrastructure can be advanced.

It will probably be necessary to provide transitional solutions so that short-term requirements can be implemented in the upcoming transition phase. One such transitional solution could be the installation of charging stations with lower charging capacities until the grid-side infrastructure is able to provide sufficient public fast-charging stations. An expansion of the existing system of charging stations at strategically sensible locations (e.g. retail locations, central transfer points or similar) in the urban area is already being examined.

The necessary expansion of the charging infrastructure must be coordinated and promoted by the city. The choice of location must be planned from a traffic and urban planning perspective as well as taking into account the network infrastructure. The use of public and semi-public parking facilities must be included in the design, as must the conversion of current filling stations. The development of publicly accessible charging infrastructure must be coordinated with developments in the private sector in order to reduce the risk of bad investments or insufficient charging capacity.

This very challenging task requires interdepartmental coordination and close cooperation with municipal companies, energy suppliers and other stakeholders. Specialist planners and experts in the field of electromobility must be involved in the design process. A comprehensive concept needs to be developed that achieves the broadest possible consensus for implementation, is provided with a sufficient budget and is continuously reviewed and further developed.

In Offenbach, as in many cities and municipalities, walking is often less of a focus than other modes, even though a large proportion of journeys are made on foot. A sustainable overall strategy for a pedestrian-friendly city with a view to systematically strengthening pedestrian traffic in the neighborhoods and districts should ensure that this transport segment is given appropriate consideration.

At a higher level, strategic recommendations for action and uniform minimum requirements are to be formulated in a city-wide local mobility and pedestrian traffic concept. This concept is the guiding strategic approach for all future transport and urban planning measures relating to local mobility and is intended to set the course for the future direction of local mobility in the city.

As a basis for this city-wide concept, the first step is to define the main routes for pedestrian traffic. The aim is to create a coherent and attractive network of routes in the medium to long term as a "priority network" for local mobility. For example, it makes sense to differentiate between "everyday routes", "school routes" and "leisure/recreational routes". The local mobility and walking strategy should describe the measures required for this priority network and prioritize them. A programmatic approach should also be examined to determine the extent to which the implementation of the measures can be integrated into upcoming construction measures ("walking measures").

The priority network also forms the backbone to which sub-area concepts can be linked. Finally, structures and work processes must be defined in the city-wide concept to enable the systematic and continuous development of local mobility. This includes, for example, the provision of human and financial resources, the definition of internal administrative planning processes and responsibilities as well as public relations work. Tasks with particular urgency, such as the elimination of danger spots, are to be organized at a higher level.

The creation of a city-wide local mobility concept should be supported by a project-related expert committee (see measure B2 "Participation in local mobility"). This committee should be made up of the various departments of the city administration as well as other important players with a connection to local mobility (e.g. VCD, FUSS e. V., Advisory Council for People with Disabilities, Senior Citizens' Council). Early and intensive public participation must be taken into account in the development of the concept.

Sub-regional local mobility concepts have already been developed for individual districts. In the medium term, these are to be extended to cover the entire city of Offenbach. Taking into account the requirements, objectives and measures defined in the city-wide concept, these concepts are to cover the small-scale individual measures for promoting local mobility on a systematic, uniform methodological basis. Neighborhood managers should be involved in the development of these sub-regional local transport concepts and local public participation should take place. Priority areas for urban and infrastructure development should be prioritized when creating sub-regional local transport concepts.

The implementation of a sustainable walking and local mobility strategy is usually characterized by many "small" measures. To make implementation visible to the general public, pilot or key projects can be defined and implemented, which are communicated, for example, as part of campaigns or activities to strengthen local mobility.

The city of Offenbach has already developed numerous measures to improve the situation for cyclists, including, for example, the cycle path along Sprendlinger Landstraße as part of a traffic trial, the creation of cycle lanes in the city (Bike Offenbach) and the opening up of one-way streets for cyclists. In addition, the majority of the measures defined in Offenbach's 2007 cycling concept have already been implemented.

The aim of updating the city's cycling concept is to ensure the continued promotion of cycling. To this end, suitable measures for the safe and direct routing of cycle traffic in the city area and beyond are to be defined on the basis of an overall strategy.

The prerequisite for safe cycling connections is a coherent, continuous and demand-oriented cycling network. The current main and secondary cycling network in Offenbach was identified in the inventory analysis of the VEP. The existing network is to be updated as part of the updating of the cycling concept, and gaps in the network are to be closed as a matter of priority.

The cycling networks are to be developed with feedback from the existing infrastructure. This requires a comprehensive survey of the existing cycling facilities, their dimensions and their condition. Particular danger spots and weak points in the existing infrastructure must be identified and, in particular, the danger spots must be tackled with the highest priority.

The defined cycling network forms the basis for cycling planning, and the differentiation between the main and supplementary network also determines the further prioritization of measures. Fast cycle routes and direct cycle connections (comparison of measures "Fast cycle connection in the direction of Frankfurt/Hanau" and "Feasibility study for further fast/ direct cycle connections in the north-south axis in the direction of Rodgau/Dieburg") are of particular importance for the main network.

The cycling network must be continuously updated and expanded accordingly. For upcoming measures in the road network, the interests of cycling must always be examined and compared with the specifications of the cycling concept. The consideration of the interests of cycling also applies explicitly to the actual construction period; here, the interests of cycling must be treated at least as justifiably as those of other road users.

In the potential analysis of the state of Hesse (www.schneller-radfahren.de), the Frankfurt am Main - Offenbach am Main - Hanau link was identified as a potential high-speed cycle connection. A feasibility study is currently being carried out, which should result in a suitable route or preferred variant based on the benefit-cost factor and various framework conditions (connections to source and destination points, environmental influences, structural interventions , etc.). The City of Offenbach is already supporting these plans and should continue to support the efforts to implement the high-speed cycle link on the basis of the considerable advantages for commuters to Frankfurt and Hanau and actively pursue its implementation. The plans for the high-speed cycle link should also be integrated into the overall concept (comparison of cycle traffic concept).

In cooperation with RMV and the city of Frankfurt am Main, a feasibility study is currently being prepared for the (re)introduction or extension of the Frankfurt streetcar lines into the Offenbach urban area. The study is examining various possible route options for connecting the city center (e.g. via the city center and/or the main train station) to the districts of Bürgel and Rumpenheim. The streetcar currently runs to the western city limits of Offenbach (transfer to bus lines 103, 120).

The inner-city public bus service in Offenbach am Main is currently characterized by high capacity utilization during rush hour. The continuation of the streetcar is primarily intended to improve the efficiency of public transport within the Offenbach urban area and the connection to the city of Frankfurt am Main. This measure is associated with a high-quality expansion of public transport services with positive effects in terms of modal shift to eco-mobility. The continuation of the streetcar lines can also be a first step towards the development of a higher-quality inner-city public transport system with streetcars in Offenbach.

The feasibility study should therefore be continued and supported. If it comes to a positive conclusion regarding feasibility, the resulting recommendations should be pursued accordingly. Due to the fact that the results of the feasibility study are not yet available, the realization of the continuation of the streetcar has not been considered in the VEP. If the feasibility of a streetcar in Offenbach is not given, alternative higher-quality public transport systems on the high-potential main axes should be investigated.

A two-lane connecting road is to be built between the B 448 (Bieber Nord) and Mühlheimer Straße to reorganize the traffic flow in the east of Offenbach. This reorganization is an important prerequisite for ensuring good accessibility to the eastern commercial areas in particular. The link road is also intended to relieve the already noisy and polluted sections of Bieberer Strasse and the rest of Untere Grenzstrasse.

According to the feasibility study and an accompanying nature and species conservation report, the link road should have two lanes and run along the "Am Schneckenberg" S-Bahn line for 900 meters. To this end, the existing "Am Schneckenberg" road is to be widened to around seven meters for car traffic and supplemented with a footpath and cycle path. The construction of the connecting road will relieve traffic on Bieberer Strasse and Untere Grenzstrasse, which will be upgraded with cycle paths and greenery to create attractive streets. In this context, the aim is to reduce Bieberer Strasse to one lane in each direction.

Planning/building rights are now to be created as part of in-depth planning. If the overall result is positive and all relevant concerns are taken into account, this measure will be pursued until it is realized.

The demands on the use of public space are diverse, which is why the coordination of parked vehicles is a particularly challenging task. Stationary vehicle traffic dominates a large part of the street space in the urban area and is often at the expense of the quality of life, road safety, the available width of footpaths and cycle paths, parking spaces for bicycles, delivery traffic and urban green spaces. Stationary motor vehicle traffic is therefore in conflict with the defined model on several occasions.

In view of the limited availability of space, it is necessary to examine the extent to which public space previously used for car parking can be made available for other purposes or reorganized. At the same time, this requires the provision of the necessary alternative modes of transport and a suitable reorganization of car parking facilities. This can be achieved, for example, via neighborhood garages. Closely related to this is the question of which municipal infrastructure will be required for the promotion of electromobility (comparison of the creation of conditions for charging infrastructure). The availability of charging infrastructure as part of public and private parking facilities is an important factor in successfully reducing traffic-related pollutant emissions.

In the past, the City of Offenbach has already initiated several projects and measures in connection with the above-mentioned aspects. These existing concepts should be taken up and further developed into an integrated, future-oriented overall concept for stationary vehicle traffic in public spaces. This city-wide concept should provide a guideline for the future reduction of conflicts arising from parking on public streets. It forms the basis for deriving partial measures. The concept is to be tested in practice via individual pilot projects for selected sub-areas and, in particular, the benefits are to be made tangible for the public.

To support emission-free delivery concepts, the feasibility of mobility hubs or micro-depots in the urban area should be examined in future and initial experience gathered as part of a pilot project. In order to reduce the number of courier and express freight transports (CEP) to a minimum, several delivery processes can be bundled via decentralized "distribution centers". These interim storage facilities are also suitable for the fine distribution of parcel deliveries by cargo bikes or on foot (for example, using a handcart). Parking search traffic and second-row parking by delivery vehicles can also be reduced.

A nationwide implementation is to be examined after the development of an overall concept including the implementation of a pilot project (after identifying suitable locations).

The already high volume of commercial traffic in the Rhine-Main region will continue to increase in the future due to currently foreseeable developments. The increasing volume of (motorized) commercial traffic brings with it a number of negative traffic-related side effects, including rising noise and air pollutant emissions in urban areas, growing space requirements and competition for space as well as conflicts on the roads.

Comprehensive changes in commercial transportation can only be achieved if the regional and supra-regional context is taken into account. For future-proof and sustainable development, it is therefore necessary to manage commercial traffic in a coordinated manner. Municipal concepts contribute to the overall strategy as partial solutions.

The FrankfurtRhineMain Regional Association intends to develop inter-municipal and regional solutions and control approaches for commercial transport together with the cities and municipalities in the region and various other stakeholders with a connection to commercial transport. The action program is to be developed promptly and be available by autumn 2023. The City of Offenbach should continue to ensure its involvement at both a political and technical level and also support the content of the project.