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Lecture at the VKU Symposium: Demography and Waste Management

On the one hand, the personnel-intensive and physically demanding work, in particular in the operational area, has to be done by an ever smaller number of employees which are also becoming ever older on average. On the other, the reduction of the population and the simultaneous increase of the number of households has substantial effects on costs and charges. Waste management companies have to prepare for these trends by means of strategic human resources planning and sustainable tariff models.

Lecture: Water tariffs – where are we heading?

The situation is made worse by the upcoming demographic and industrial changes which will pose a great challenge in particular for the Ruhr area. What tariff models do exist? How can tariff models be designed which are future-proof and can overcome the demographic challenge? What goals can be achieved with a tariff model, and which not? In her lecture, Anna Wallbrecht presents possible approaches.

Asset Management Seminar of the UIC in South Korea — Lecture by Frank Zschoche

The topics were varied and exciting. The three-part seminar comprised lectures on the subject areas of concepts and standards in asset management, best practice examples of asset management and approaches to efficiency increase and cost reduction. In his lecture, Frank Zschoche reported on the many years of positive experience with international infrastructure benchmarks in Europe.

Customer balance prominent at the Annual Water Management Conference of the BDEW

Arne Beck’s article about the German framework of public transport services online

Now available online: Journal article discussing ”The distinction between commercial and non-commercial bus services in Germany: Given by nature?“ Arne Beck analyses the regulatory framework for German public transport services by bus. He shows that

  • this framework distinguishes between commercial and non-commercial services.
  • the classification of services is determined by the authorities.
  • market organisation differs substantially with respect to the awarding structure.
  • this creates a challenge for operators and authorities in an embryonic market.

Link to journal article

Price of water, methodically explained

The customers’ balance is a tool to explain differences in water prices and wastewater charges based on structural framework conditions, performance and quality differences as well as imputed approaches. civity supports the BDEW and water management companies in this endeavour.

Dr Karl Reinhard Kolmsee and Andreas Thürmer join civity Advisory Board

Dr Karl Reinhard Kolmsee is a managing partner at Smart Utilities Solutions GmbH and Smart Hydro Power GmbH, two companies that focus on the development and marketing of technology for decentralised energy production and water treatment. Before joining civity, he was CEO at E.ON AG and Arriva Deutschland GmbH.

Dr Kolmsee shares an interest in innovative concepts for active infrastructure development with the civity team – whether in the area of public transportation or for energy and water projects.

Andreas Thürmer is an authorised signatory and has been head of the Office of the Management Board at Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR) since 2007. In the six years prior to that, he was responsible for organisational development there. With around 5,300 employees and an annual turnover of €485 million, BSR is one of the largest municipal companies in the waste disposal sector in Europe.

For many years, Andreas Thürmer has dealt with the strategic and organisational evolution of BSR into a model company in the waste management sector. For the civity team, he is an important partner for the innovative exchange of ideas on themes of the future.

Senior citizens as a target group for public transport

Article by Jens Gertsen and Stefan Weigele published in DER NAHVERKEHR 06/2011

Since the number of eligible customers will grow in an aging society, offers such as senior discounts and value-added services may entail economic risks. In order to determine how services and fares could be developed and differentiated in an economically sustainable way, a comprehensive strategy for the senior citizen market is required.

Presentation: International competitive strategies in rail passenger transport

The presentation was held by Arne Beck on 24 June 2011 at the "Municipal Infrastructure Management" conference in Berlin. You can find more detailed information about the conference here.

‘Value for Money’ commission expects clear savings potential of 30% in the British rail system

The British rail system has seen sharp increases in passenger numbers since the mid 1990s. Despite these increases, there has been a lack of improvement in efficiency and costs. Initial analyses by the ‘Value for Money’ team have shown that overall costs should be 20 to 30% lower – particularly when the success achieved in other European countries is taken into consideration.

The international comparison with France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland carried out by civity not only shows considerably higher spending in Great Britain, but also the associated effects in terms of revenue. The consequences are higher fares and above-average subsidies. What it more, optimal use is not made of the network and trains.

The study highlights possible annual savings of 1 billion pounds through an extensive package of recommendations. These range from structural reforms to improve the cooperation between all parties involved through to a faster adoption of best practices in all areas of work. The ‘Value for Money’ team has proposed a high-ranking rail commission and a plan of implementation in order to be able to achieve these objective by 2018/19.

Link