Bonn public transportation Politicians rethink transfer policy on short distance routes
BONN · Passengers are unhappy about new transfer surcharges on short routes, which have been in effect since January 1. Politicians now want to do away with the new rule.
While politicians in Cologne back paddle on new transfer restrictions, there is also a political initiative in Bonn to take back the new rule which requires public transportation passengers to pay a surcharge for transfers on short routes.
The uproar from passengers was so great that politicians felt compelled to take action. In Bonn, the SPD party has prepared a proposal that would take back the new transfer rule.
A press release put out by local politicians on Monday said that the new rule, which was introduced to achieve a more integrated system, was not reasonable for passengers using pubic transport in the city. The Bonn political coalition said it would press for the SWB local transportation authorities to cancel the new transfer restrictions.
SWB spokesperson Michael Henseler said that no transportation company is empowered to change such a rule on its own. They would have to call for an association meeting to address the issue. They are aware that the new rule puts some passengers at a disadvantage.
“The fairest would be a flat rate calculated by distance,” said Henseler. The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS) (Rhine-Sieg Transport Association) doesn’t see any need to take action. “It is a rule one simply needs to be aware of and which only upsets a small proportion of customers,” says Holger Klein, VRS spokesperson.
The background is that transport companies operating in rural areas had demanded short distance tickets be scrapped. In rural areas, passengers can travel much greater distances on a short distance ticket than in town.
(Orig. text: Joshua Bung, Lisa Inhoffen)
