Hamburger Verkehrsverbund

The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV) () is a transport association coordinating public transport in and around Hamburg, Germany. Its main objectives are to provide a unified fare system, requiring only a single ticket for journeys with transfers between different operating companies, and to facilitate and speed up travel by harmonising the individual companies' schedules. At its inception in 1965, the HVV was the first organisation of its kind worldwide.

As of 2010, the HVV provides rail, bus and ferry transportation for an area of 8,616 square kilometres with approximately 3.6 million inhabitants in the states of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony. The HVV has approximately 1.95 million customers on an average working day.

The HVV acts as the overall coordinating body for transport in the conurbation, with representation by the Hamburger Hochbahn (Hamburg elevated railway); Deutsche Bahn (DB, German Federal Railways); AKN railway company (Altona-Kaltenkirchen-Neumünster Railway); HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG (HADAG sea-tourism and ferry service plc); VHH (Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein / Hamburg Holstein Transport Ltd), and KVG Stade (Kraftverkehrgesellschaft Stade, GmbH / Motor Traffic Company, LLC).

With an average of 50,000 commuters per day the ''Metrobus 5'' bus line is the busiest in Europe. In the city centre, stops are served without a specific schedule every two or three minutes and since December 2005, extra long double-articulated buses have been used. Provided by Wikipedia