The VRR is tasked with coordinating public transport in its area. This means the following:[1][2][3][4]
setting and developing the fare system (“VRR-Tarif”)
redistributing ticket revenue onto the transport companies
coordinating local train services (Schienenpersonennahverkehr, SPNV) within its area as public service obligations (PSO)
integrating the public transport system
setting standards and guidelines for passenger information and bus/tram stop facilities
coordination between transport companies, local authorities and Land authorities
financing partial subsidies for bus and tram companies according to § 11 (2) and § 11a ÖPNVG NRW
coordinating Land subsidies to transport companies and local authorities according to § 12 and § 13 ÖPNVG NRW
Governance
Officially, 24 cities and districts form the Zweckverband VRR (ZV VRR), and an additional 2 districts the Nahverkehrs-Zweckverband Niederrhein (NVN). Together, the ZV VRR and the NVN form the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr AöR, which in addition cooperates with further transport companies.[5]
The member cities and districts of the Zweckverband VRR (ZV VRR) are:
The members of the Nahverkehrs-Zweckverband Niederrhein (NVN) are the districts of Kleve and Wesel.
The municipal and district councils send representatives to the two Zweckverband councils (Verbandsversammlung), which in turn elect the main decision making body, the administrative council (Verwaltungsrat) of the VRR AöR, and other committees. The Verwaltungsrat elects the administrative board of the VRR AöR (Vorstand), currently Gabriele Matz and José Luis Castrillo.[1][6]
In addition, there are departments within the VRR dealing with different matters, such as marketing or law. Two Land institutions are located within the VRR structure: Kompetenzcenter Digitalisierung NRW (KCD) and Kompetenzcenter Sicherheit (KCS).
Through the ZV VRR Eigenbetrieb Fahrzeuge und Infrastruktur (ZV VRR FaIn-EB), the VRR also buys and/or owns the rolling stock for some, but not all, of its PSO rail operations.[1]
Transport companies
These above mentioned cities’ and districts’ and other associated transport companies thus operate under the VRR fare scheme:[5]
With the introduction of the VRR in 1980 a new line numbering system for all bus, tram and Stadtbahn lines in the VRR area was introduced. The VRR was divided into ten regions, which were assigned a prefix digit (e.g. 4 for Dortmund), the first digit in the three-digit line number representing that prefix. The last two digits are the individual line number. These are the existing prefixes:
Stadtbahn lines are identified with the prefix "U" followed by the prefix and a one-digit identifiers. The prefixes 2, 5, 9 and 0 are not used for Stadtbahn lines. The Wuppertal Schwebebahn is officially line 60, but because it does not run underground, the U prefix is not used.
After the integration of the former Verkehrsgemeinschaft Niederrhein (VGN) area north of Duisburg, route numbers were unchanged, i.e. representing no prefix.
Express buses are called Schnellbus and have the prefix SB followed by a two-digit-number. None of these numbers is a key number.
Semi-fast buses are called City-Express and have the prefix CE followed by a two-digit-number. As with the Schnellbusse none of these numbers is a key number.
Taxi buses are AST – AnrufSammelTaxi or ALT – AnrufLinienTaxi or Taxibus
In some cities the local buses have an own numbering system, e.g. the buses in Velbert are called Ortsbus, their line number consists of an OV followed by a one- or two-digit number.
In some cities the night buses are called NachtExpress – NE
