Public local transport is often viewed primarily as a cost factor. Yet what economic value does an efficient public transport system create for a region?
Commissioned by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Mobility, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of Saarland (MUKMAV), MCube Consulting has investigated this question comprehensively for Saarland for the first time. The central finding: Public transport in Saarland enables an average of around 870 million euros in value creation per year. This is offset by annual public transport system costs of around 309 million euros compared to. Mathematically, this results in a ratio of 1 to 2.8.
The economic contribution of public transport does not end with bus and rail companies. Within the public transport sector alone and among affiliated suppliers and service providers, approximately 106 million euros in direct and indirect added value. This is associated with around 2,370 jobs.
Even greater are the effects that public transport enables in other economic sectors. Retail, tourism, the real estate industry, and commuter traffic were among the areas examined.The importance is particularly evident in access to the labor market: For the Shuttle service the study determines a value-added effect of around 470 million euros per year. A functioning public transit system allows employees to reach their workplace while simultaneously expanding the recruitment radius for companies seeking workers and skilled professionals.
In addition to these economic effects, the study also takes into account the societal follow-up costs of transport. Through the current use of buses and trains in the Saarland, around 82 million euros in external costs avoided. Among other things, traffic accidents, greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, noise, and land consumption are taken into account. In addition, the study examines qualitative added values that cannot be fully monetized – for example, accessibility, social inclusion, independent mobility, and an improved quality of stay.
Methodologically, the study builds on the nationwide value creation study prepared in 2025 by MCube Consulting together with the Future Local Public Transport Initiative. However, the federal values were not simply applied proportionally to the Saarland. Instead, an independent regional calculation was carried out. Among other things, data from a survey of Saarland transport companies, official statistics, employment data, regional studies—for example in tourism—as well as the Saarland-specific evaluation of the „Mobility in Germany 2023“ study were incorporated.
Another special feature is the so-called Saarland factorIndirect value creation is only attributed to Saarland to the extent that the corresponding preliminary services are actually provided within the federal state. For example, the analysis shows that around 54 percent of the mathematically induced indirect value creation of the public transport sector occurs outside of Saarland—and accordingly is not counted as Saarland's value creation.
In addition to the status quo, the study also examines potential future effects of the rail reactivations planned in the transport development plan. For the expansion scenarios considered, the forecast yields an additional annual value added of 25.0 or 29.8 million euros. This is offset by additional costs of 10.9 and 13.0 million euros respectively, resulting in cost-benefit ratios of 2.29 respectively 2.30 results in. In all future scenarios, the investments make economic sense.
The results show how closely mobility and regional economic development are intertwined. A high-performing public transport system benefits not only transport companies and their employees. Its effects extend into the labor market, retail, tourism, and other economic sectors. The study thus expands the view of public transport to include a macroeconomic perspective: alongside the necessary expenditures, economic activity, employment, labor market access, and avoided social follow-up costs are also made visible.
With the Saarland Study, MCube Consulting is for the first time comprehensively applying the value creation model developed for the nationwide study to the specific economic and transport structures of a federal state.
MCube Consulting project team: Dr.-Ing. Felix Waldner, Dr.-Ing. Daniel Schröder, Lea Merk, and Katharina Leitner.
Here we go to the brief report / to the full study.
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What is MOSAIQ?
Imagine something: There is more space for people. The streets have more trees and plants. Everyone can get around better. That's how your Schwabing-West district could be in the future. How would you like your district to be? We want to talk to you about it!
The project is called MOSAIQ. MOSAIQ is a research∙project. MOSAIQ means: Mobility and urban climate in the future city∙part. The Technical University of Munich is leading the project.
What is MOSAIQ about?
MOSAIQ wants to make the streets in the city∙part more beautiful. People should feel comfortable there. There should be more space. For meetings and plants, for example. You can help decide what is tried out in the Stadt∙teil. The ideas come from you. Some ideas will be tried out on the streets for a certain period of time.
The aim of MOSAIQ is to make urban districts good places to live.
At the same time, the climate in the city should improve. And people should be able to move around the city easily.
What is happening in the district?
