RVO senior citizen ticket in future also for Warngauer

Created: 05/12/2022, 07:11

By: Katrin Hager

With the buses of the RVO - here on the route to Holzkirchen at the town hall in Oberwarngau - in future Warngau seniors over 65 years of age should also travel free of charge.

The council decided that.

© Thomas Plettenberg

Now the municipality of Warngau is also getting mobile: For citizens over 65 years of age, they are introducing the RVO senior citizen ticket.

It is expected that seniors in Warngau will be able to travel through the Oberland free of charge from autumn.

Warngau

– In most municipalities and towns in the district, seniors over the age of 65 can already travel or will soon be able to travel free of charge on the buses of the Regionalverkehr Oberbayern (RVO) through the Oberland fare zone, which includes the districts of Miesbach, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Weilheim-Schongau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen includes.

Fischbachau provided the template for this in September 2019 as a pioneer, and Otterfing also recently decided to introduce it.

Now Warngau is also getting involved: On Tuesday evening, the municipal council decided to introduce the senior citizen ticket 65+.

First as a test run.

As Mayor Klaus Thurnhuber (FWG) explained, the senior citizen ticket was also addressed in the digital town hall meeting.

The mayor is convinced of the benefit.

“Mobility is increased and with it the quality of life.

I believe that this is generally very much appreciated.” At least that is confirmed by the experiences of the municipalities that have been offering the senior citizen ticket for some time.

And thanks to the ticket, senior citizens could also do without getting behind the wheel more easily, says Thurnhuber.

"We may reduce one or two car journeys that are no longer quite as safe."

In addition to a few hundred euros in start-up costs for the facility, the municipality expects annual costs of around 10,000 euros for the offer to its senior citizens.

A very rough estimate, as Thurnhuber admitted in the municipal council.

"The costs depend on usage behavior." The RVO charges the municipality 6.37 euros per trip for the senior citizen ticket.

The municipality only pays if trips are actually made.

As the municipal administration has determined, 794 Warngauer are 65 years or older.

It is unclear how many of them apply for the senior citizen card and how often they use it.

Test phase until the end of 2023

Thurnhuber suggested introducing the senior card by December 31, 2023, i.e. for around one and a half years.

"Then we can continue to see if we might charge a little something for the output."

Gillhuber (Draxlhamer Liste) waved his hand and warned to save.

"We don't have to jump on everything the federal government does." Thurnhuber made it clear that the federal government has nothing at all to do with the senior citizens' ticket.

"That's something that communities do for their seniors." That's exactly what Anton Bader (FWG) found important.

"We do so much for younger people, in the sports club et cetera.

You can also do something for the older ones.” Leonhard Obermüller (CSU) agreed.

"It makes sense to give the seniors something." Harald Stanke (FWG) did not see the administrative burden that Gilhuber feared.

The RVO manages the day-to-day operations.

Florian Rank (FWG) meanwhile had general doubts about the benefit of a senior citizen ticket.

He doubted that seniors in particular would make the journey to the nearest bus stop.

The buses in regular service are also not well used.

For the majority of the municipal council, that was no reason to wave it off.

"65-year-olds are still that sprightly," Obermüller stated.

The committee wanted to at least try it.

With 15:1, against Rank's vote, the municipal council decided to introduce it.

When Warngau citizens can apply for and use the senior citizen ticket remained open for the time being.

However, the introduction should take about three months.

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