STOAG satisfied with annual result

We are satisfied with the economic development of STOAG ”, summed up STOAG board members Peter Klunk and Werner Overkamp. Sales could be increased by 2,5%, expenses remained almost the same. The fact that the subsidy from the city of Oberhausen is 2,3 million euros higher than the previous year (5,92 million euros) is due to the significant decline in income from investments and securities. 

The numbers for 2012:
Ticket sales and passenger development 

The revenues from ticket sales including the subsidies for the SozialTicket have increased slightly compared to the previous year and amount to EUR 26,0 million. The tariff increase of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr, in which the transport charges were increased by an average of 1% on January 2012, 3,9, plays an important role here. The number of passengers fell slightly in 2012 by 0,8% to 38,1 million. This development is primarily due to the declining number of inhabitants and the continuously falling number of schoolchildren in Oberhausen. Nevertheless, with 13.462 subscriptions, schoolchildren are still the largest subscriber group, even if their share has decreased by 5,3% compared to the previous year.  

The introduction of the SozialTicket on November 1, 2011 will affect the entire range of tickets, both in terms of bar tariffs and time travel cards. Around 2.200 SozialTickets - which has been called "MeinTicket" since January - are sold every month. There has been a change from Ticket1000 and Ticket2000 users to the SozialTicket as well as from YoungTicket users to the SozialTicket. Since training and further education measures are partly subject to funding projects that enable the social ticket to be used, the number of passengers with YoungTicket, for example, fell by 9,3%.  

Overall, the number of customers with a time pass (excluding training traffic) has developed positively - compared to the previous year, a positive result of 3,3% was achieved. The number of passengers who buy their tickets in cash in the customer center, in advance booking offices, at machines or on the bus (bar tariff) has been falling for years and is 6,4% below the previous year's figure. 

Operating profit

STOAG achieved sales revenues and income of EUR 2012 million in the 28,5 financial year. This was 1,4% below the comparative value of the previous year (EUR 28,9 million). Among other things, the reduced subsidies for the transport of schoolchildren and the severely disabled have an effect here. 

As in the previous year, expenses for 2012 amounted to EUR 49,5 million. As a result of the restructuring measures in all departments, it was possible to compensate for increases in fuel prices, for example, as well as the tariff increase in employee wages. The largest item at EUR 22,8 million is personnel expenses.  

Income from investments and securities totaled EUR 12,8 million, 13% less than in the previous year (EUR 14,7 million). This results in a remaining financing requirement for the city of Oberhausen of EUR 8,2 million, which is EUR 2,3 million above the previous year.   

Operating performance

The total operating performance of STOAG for buses and trams amounted to 9,51 million commercial vehicle kilometers in the reporting year and is thus 2,9% below the previous year's figure. In the last 10 years, the operating performance of STOAG has been reduced by 2 million commercial vehicle kilometers. 

Environmental protection as a priority topic in 2012 and 2013:
Vehicles

With the commissioning of two hybrid buses in February 2012, STOAG took another big step towards environmental protection. Hybrid technology increases the efficiency of the vehicle drive while at the same time minimizing exhaust emissions. The buses with serial drive used at STOAG are particularly suitable for routes on which buses often stop and start again, as is customary in city traffic. The purely electric start-up of the hybrid buses enables low-noise and low-emission driving off at the bus stop or at the traffic lights. The vehicles prove to be very reliable in daily use in regular service. Our measurement data show that the fuel consumption of the vehicles, which in the first few months were only used on fixed lines with suitable topography and intensively trained drivers, is around 30 liters, 23% below that of conventional buses.  

Seven Mercedes-Benz solo buses, which were ordered in 2013, were put into operation in February 2012. The vehicles bear the “Blue Angel” environmental label and meet the EEV (Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicle) emissions standard, which is currently the most demanding European emissions standard for buses that is ready for series production. The three-door buses have an extra large multifunctional area on the second door for prams, walkers and wheelchairs.  

The fleet currently comprises 121 buses, the average age is 5,4 years. 101 buses have a standard that corresponds to that of a green sticker, 20 buses currently have a yellow sticker. Due to the continuous investment of STOAG in new vehicles and the resulting high technical standard, all STOAG buses meet the stricter environmental requirements and can drive unrestrictedly in the service area. 

Rainwater management

In the "Future Agreement Rainwater" from 2005, the Emschergenossenschaft and the municipalities of the Emscher region committed themselves to a new way of dealing with rainwater. In order to relieve the sewers, measures are being promoted by the Emschergenossenschaft to prevent rainwater from being discharged into the sewer system. One of the projects is to decouple 2020% of the areas connected to the sewer system by 15. The near-natural rainwater management at the STOAG depot supports this project. In the future, 80% of the rainwater accumulating on the 4,5 hectare depot will be separated from the mixed water, conducted in a separate drainage system into a rain retention basin on the depot and fed into the "Kleine Emscher" via a downstream treatment system. With the inflow of this water, the basis for the renaturation of this Emscher tributary is created. The project was realized in cooperation with Emscher Gesellschaft für Wassertechnik mbH (EW) and F. u.G. Gude GmbH, the neighbor of STOAG. The civil engineering work for the rainwater project was completed in December, and trial operations are currently underway.  

As part of a feasibility study, STOAG is currently examining whether near-natural rainwater management is also possible and economically viable along the public transport route, so that here too the rainwater is separated and not discharged into the sewer system.  

E-mobility

The VRR and the STOAG have commissioned a feasibility study on the expansion of the existing light rail infrastructure for charging electric buses using the local public transport route as an example. The aim is to investigate how electric buses charge themselves while driving in such a way that they can then cover part of the route only with a charged energy storage device. The aim is to maintain and expand the environmental advantage of public transport against the background of increasing electromobility.  

The STOAG in the opinion of the passengers 

Every two years, STOAG randomly conducts a written survey of 4000 citizens between the ages of 14 and 79 - the customer barometer. This is supported by the city's statistics and elections department. The current survey shows that the people of Oberhausen give STOAG good grades. 86% of those questioned are satisfied with the performance of STOAG. With an overall satisfaction of 2,81, this is higher than two years ago (2,89) and is also well above the average value of 2,92 that transport companies achieved in the satisfaction surveyed on behalf of the VDV (Association of German Transport Companies). 

The assessment of overall satisfaction is made up of a large number of individual factors. In some areas, STOAG achieved above-average satisfaction values: for example, the speed and duration of the journey, the customer centers and advance booking offices, the options for purchasing tickets, the information in the vehicles as well as the quality of the line and route network and in the accessibility of the stops. The highest satisfaction rates were found in the information provided by the Internet, the friendliness and competence of the employees in the customer centers and in the overall appearance of the employees. 

It is particularly pleasing that the Oberhausen-based company rated the punctuality and reliability of our service, the safety, the cleanliness, the comfort and the space in the vehicles and the friendliness and competence of the complaint management better than before. The points of safety at stops and information in the event of disruptions and delays were also rated better.