Not really. It's not about starting a lot of public transport companies, more about expanding the existing ones. Public transport is heavily regulated in Germany, you won't find more than one provider in most cities (mostly because it's loss making).
It's not low ridership, it's mostly losing money due to low prices. A large group of people tends to get free transport (university students, children, the elderly, disabled people) which means that in the end, only part of those using the system actually pay. Monthly tickets are also often heavily discounted (not in all cities though).
