Largest Flexibus node in the Unterallgäu

Created: 05/15/2022, 08:00

The mobility committee of the Lower Allgäu district council has now unanimously paved the way for the largest Flexibus node in Lower Allgäu to date.

© Stefanie Vögele

Unterallgäu - Take the cheap bus from Böhen or Markt Rettenbach to the train station in Sontheim - the mobility committee of the Unterallgäu district council has now unanimously paved the way for the largest Flexibus node in the Unterallgäu to date.

This should include the communities of Ottobeuren, Böhen, Hawangen, Markt Rettenbach, Erkheim, Holzgünz, Lauben, Sontheim, Ungerhausen and Westerheim.

This means that passengers can be individually chauffeured by the Flexibus in this area without a fixed timetable and without a fixed route - 365 days a year, Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on weekends and public holidays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

"I am very pleased that we have cleared the way for this," emphasized District Administrator Alex Eder: "So the train stop in Sontheim is becoming even more important."

Connection to the rail

Since October 2020, the Flexibus has connected the communities of Ottobeuren, Böhen, Hawangen and Markt Rettenbach.

Even then there were plans to include the junction around Sontheim and Erkheim and thus create a connection to the railway - but the junction between Erkheim and Sontheim does not yet exist.

"Actually, the plan was to first put this node into operation and then to merge both nodes in a further step," explained Helmut Höld, public transport officer at the Unterallgäu district office, at the committee meeting.

But since the desire was expressed to quickly create a connection to the rails, he now suggested: "We'll skip one step and involve the communities around Erkheim directly." According to Höld, the communities have already signaled that they are using this approach would agree.

The members of the mobility committee also liked the idea and unanimously agreed to the expansion of the area.

Most of the communities have already approved the expansion or accession to the node in their committees.

The expanded node could then go into operation from October.

Flexibus stays cheap

The Flexibus travels in a limited area, the so-called node.

The journey is booked individually – by phone or with the Flexibus app.

The Flexibus serves a dense network of stops, where the walk to the next stop is usually no more than 100 to 150 meters.

If you are traveling with a severely handicapped pass and the corresponding token, you can travel for free.

Everyone else pays a little more than for the regular bus.

The deficit per trip that the bus company incurs - minus a subsidy from the Free State - is partially borne by the district of Unterallgäu, partially by the municipalities in the respective node.

The entrepreneur in the Türkheim-Ettringen node had now signaled to the district that the Flexibus was making a loss with the previous financing model.

Because there were fewer passengers than expected, especially during the Corona crisis.

Fewer trips mean less financial compensation.

However, the bus operator still had to provide the vehicle and driver.

To ensure that the Flexibus can remain so cheap for passengers, the district councils therefore decided on a new financing model.

What was important here was that the economic risk must remain with the entrepreneur and he must continue to have an incentive to transport as many passengers as possible.