Good transport connections
The Federal City of Bonn is located in the middle of the European Rhine Region. The Brussels area or the Rhine-Main region can be easily reached within one to two hours by car or with the high-speed trains ICE and THALYS. Furthermore, the city is networked via three international airports - Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt/Main:
- Direct connections to the airports Cologne/Bonn (25 minutes), Düsseldorf (60 minutes) and Frankfurt/Main (85 minutes)
- Direct connection to the European high-speed rail network via Bonn Central Station or the ICE railway station Siegburg/Bonn (approximately two and a half hours Brussels Midi, one hour Frankfurt/Main from Bonn city centre)
- Direct connections to the motorways A 3 and A 61, additional motorway connections on the Bonn city area A 555 and A 565
Expert opinion: Connection in Bonn good
For the first time, the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) conducted a comprehensive survey of Bonn companies on behalf of the city of Bonn on the location of Bonn, the assessment of their own company development and the quality of municipal services (publication 12/2017). With regard to transport links overall, companies gave the location a school grade of 3.0. The best grades were awarded for access to national and international air traffic with 2.1 and 2.2 respectively, but public transport links with 2.7 and mobile phone structures also scored decently with 2.5. The current location survey conducted by the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2022 confirms Bonn's good connections in particular: Thus, the greatest satisfaction of Bonn companies can be seen in the connection and accessibility to airports (grade 2.5) and in the connection, accessibility to roads and highways (grade 2.7). The connection, frequency and condition of public transport and DB are rated somewhat lower with a school grade of 3.2.
Workplace Centre Bonn
More than half of the working population in North Rhine-Westphalia commuted to work across the borders of their place of residence on each working day in 2020, as determined by IT.NRW as the state statistics office on the basis of the 2020 commuter calculation. Every day, 135,692 commuters come to Bonn (previous year: 141,436), which means that Bonn's companies mainly cover their labor needs from the surrounding area and neighboring cities: 56.0 percent of all employees in Bonn are commuters. This means that Bonn ranks fifth among the 29 major cities in North Rhine-Westphalia in terms of the commuting rate; in the Rhine region, Düsseldorf achieves an even higher value with 59.7 percent. On the other hand, the commuting rate - that is, the share of commuters in the workforce at the place of residence - is comparatively low in Bonn at 35.1 percent and corresponds to 23rd place among the major NRW cities. Most commuters to Bonn come from the surrounding Rhein-Sieg district, especially from Sankt Augustin (7,159), Königswinter (6,616) and Bornheim (6,353). The largest commuting links with a city are with Cologne. From there, 15,892 employees commute daily to their jobs in Bonn, while 14,617 Bonn residents commute daily in the opposite direction to their jobs in Cologne.
Current challenges
Currently, various construction measures such as highway construction sites and construction/rehabilitation measures are being carried out on the Deutsche Bahn network. The planning by the Autobahn GmbH of the federal government is accompanied by the economic development in the discourse. With the completion of many measures, a considerable improvement in the quality of the traffic system can be achieved. For example, reconstruction work on Bonn's main train station and the Viktoriabrücke bridge has been completed. In air traffic, the number of travelers at Cologne/Bonn Airport fell drastically by around three quarters to approximately 3.1 million in 2020 due to the Corona pandemic. In 2021, the situation here has stabilized again and the number of travelers has increased by +38.0% to 4.3 million passengers.
Various measures continue to be implemented to modernize and expand regional transport networks:
- The city of Bonn is pursuing various measures to reduce CO2. These include the establishment of mobile stations, the construction of bike routes and the conversion of the city's vehicle fleet to electric mobility.
- With the concept "Bönnsche Viertel - Living Spaces for People", the city of Bonn wants to upgrade the spaces that are becoming vacant by redesigning stationary and flowing traffic. Together with the citizens, the city wants to work out how this works best in the neighborhoods. The Inner North City and the Combahnviertel in Beuel are initially considered model neighborhoods.
- Together with the Rhein-Sieg district, the city of Bonn is extending the JOBWÄRTS mobility management program, which was initially planned to run until the end of 2022, for a further two years. The aim is to noticeably reduce traffic congestion in the greater Bonn area - especially in view of the upcoming construction sites on the autobahns over the next few years - and to encourage more people to travel to their place of work by bicycle, pedelec or bus and train. Currently, 40 employers participate in JOBWÄRTS, reaching over 70,000 employees.
- Construction of the extension of the S13 from Troisdorf to Bonn-Oberkassel; the 13-kilometer line is scheduled to be in operation by 2026.
- SWB Bus und Bahn: Vision 2030 with complete conversion of the bus fleet to electric drive.