An actuation device for a public transport vehicle to avoid transmission of bacteria during the actuation. The device can be actuated by a predefined contactless actuation gesture, the device having a sensor unit that measures without contact and an evaluation unit, which is connected to the sensor unit. The sensor unit can generate a sensor signal transmit the sensor signal to the evaluation unit when an object, in particular a finger or a hand of a person, performs, within a detection space of the sensor unit, a movement at a distance from the actuation device, the signal being dependent on the movement sequence of the movement. The evaluation unit can check whether the movement is a predefined contactless actuation gesture, by which the actuation device can be actuated. If the movement is such an actuation gesture, a control signal is generated for a device of the vehicle.