There are no bus drivers

Created: 10/06/2022 11:02 am

By: Oliver Puls

Driver shortage: In order to be able to guarantee school transport, journeys on other lines have to be cancelled.

© MVV GmbH/SCHUELKE_G.

Starnberg/Würmtal – There will be some serious cuts in regional bus services, as announced by Starnberg district administrator Stefan Frey at the meeting of the district mobility committee on Wednesday.

The reason: Above all, the bus companies that operate public transport lack drivers.

In some cases, as recently in Gauting, even school transport has been cancelled.

Frey therefore wants to give the school transport "absolute priority".

On Tuesday, the district administrator held a two-hour crisis meeting with the bus companies.

These have contractually committed to ensure daily school transport.

But what to do if there are no bus drivers.

By 2030, there will be a shortage of around 50,000 bus drivers and construction workers across the country.

Today, Frey described the conversation, that there is a high fluctuation among the bus drivers.

This means that drivers quickly switch to a more attractive employer.

In addition to a higher income, the entrepreneurs describe an affordable apartment as particularly attractive.

The now discussed wage increase for drivers from 3 to 3.50 euros per hour would burden the Starnberg district with an additional 1.1 million euros.

In order to find a short-term solution for school transport, the district, together with the bus companies, wants to withdraw drivers from lines that do not have to provide school transport.

The timetables of these lines are then "thinned out".

And, what is particularly important for the parents, work must be done on communication.

In other words: if a bus driver reports sick - by the way, there is currently a high level of sick leave - the company concerned should report this - and the affected line with the time - to the coordination center in the district office.

On the parents' side, in turn, there should be one or a fixed contact person who will then pass this information on as quickly as possible via Whats App.

"That may not always work out," said District Administrator Frey, "but we want to do our best."

In order to be able to continue to guarantee school transport, Frey made an urgent appeal to property owners to please report vacant apartments to the district authority.

"We then pass this on to the bus companies." Frey: "But please not at the well-known Starnberg prices."

It is not yet known which lines will be affected by the cuts in public transport.

In order to be able to make these necessary financial and personnel cuts, the committee voted with two dissenting votes to deviate from the valid local transport plan.