Public transport revolution in Wiesbaden: buses against cars in the Rheingau!

Public transport revolution in Wiesbaden: buses against cars in the Rheingau!

Wiesbaden, Deutschland - Wiesbaden, a pulsating city with almost 300,000 inhabitants, faces major challenges in the area of local public transport (public transport). The city and the surrounding Rheingau-Taunus district work together on new local transport plans, but their starting points and goals could hardly be more different. While there is hope in Wiesbaden to make bus traffic competitive to the car, the cars remain the preferred means of transport in the Rheingau-Taunus district.

The traffic planner of the Rheingau-Taunus-Verkehrsgesellschaft RTV, Arno Brandscheid, describes the situation in the district as strongly shaped by private transport. The low inhabitant density and weak passenger demand, especially outside the main traffic axes, make it difficult to create a functioning public transport. In addition, there are structural problems because the RTV does not have its own buses and changes are only possible within concession contracts that are rewritten every ten years.

cost pressure and financing gaps

In the Rheingau-Taunus district, the focus is primarily on student traffic, which is often affected by technical disorders and lack of personnel. Brandscheid describes the conditions as "adventure", which impressively summarizes the challenges. The plans to substantially improve local transport fail because of the reality of financing. The annual district subsidy of 16 million euros is already at the limit of the affordable, while the costs for the inventory of public transport due to increasing expenses increase by 600,000 to 800,000 euros annually - without additional services being offered.

Innovative suggestions for new lines, such as a bus connection from Bingen over the Rhine and a line that connects Taunusstein with Wiesbaden, are in the balance. The financing of such plans remains uncertain, because even in the financially stronger state capital Wiesbaden, local transport encounters massive obstacles. Here the urgently needed expansion of public transport is threatened by financial bottlenecks that have already led to a reduction in the existing offer.

In Wiesbaden there are plans for a new local transport plan that provides for a basic network that is largely based on the existing inventory. This new concept could be promising, especially since a complete reform of the bus network is sought. However, in order to obtain additional buses or build new stops, the city urgently needs financial resources. Eswe, the urban bus company, is already missing on the financial basis to maintain regular operation.

revolution in city traffic?

With the new base network, the city bus in Wiesbaden should become more attractive by creating new direct connections and improving existing corridors. The traffic simulation shows a desired increase in public transport in the city by 1.9 percentage points to a total of 18.7 percent, which is associated with a decrease in shares for foot, bicycle and car traffic. The plans also include the introduction of new "metrobuses", which are supposed to run to the main traffic axes every 15 minutes.

It remains to be seen whether these measures are sufficient to convince the citizens. Entrepreneurs of the IHK Wiesbaden have already pointed out the need for improvements to facilitate access to jobs. In particular, the connection of the Delkenheim industrial area was criticized as inadequate. The politically responsible are required not only to develop new traffic strategies, but also to ensure that the financial framework for their implementation is given.

The coming months will be crucial to see how the plans of the traffic planners can be concretized and whether the goals for more efficient, environmentally friendly mobility in Wiesbaden and the Rheingau-Taunus district can be achieved. The challenges are numerous, but well thought -out approaches and realistic financing could lay the foundation for a sustainable improvement in public transport in the region. Details can also be found in a recent article www.faz.net can be read.