"The buses are very full," writes a woman on our Facebook page. "Every seat is taken, and the aisles are full...”. Another woman writes that she takes line 66 from Siegburg to the Museum Mile (on the B9). In the morning it’s fine, but in the afternoon it is a catastrophe. Another woman writes: "The buses in Bad Honnef are also full, and nobody can keep their distance. Sure, everyone has to go somewhere. But if the number of people who test positive increases, one should not be surprised." Even if it costs money: Adding more or longer buses would not be would not be a mistake.

A reader wrote to us: "I take the 601 line almost every day, but unfortunately I notice almost every day that the buses are totally overcrowded." Besides school children, she reminded us that there are also workers who need to be protected. "Line 601 goes to the university hospital. This means that there is a lot of hospital staff on the bus." In her opinion, the SWB should know well enough by now what times are particularly busy, for example, shortly before 6 a.m. for the morning shift at the university hospital.

In order to support the municipalities, the Association of North Rhine-Westphalian Bus Companies can provide 1,000 buses - but so far, as reported, the municipalities have only requested a few of these buses. When asked by the city whether this offer is being used, city deputy spokesman Marc Hoffmann referred to a press release dated August 19. There it says that the city has applied for a state subsidy program for the additional buses for the coming weeks.

In order to balance out the passenger volume on bus and tram lines that are particularly heavily frequented by schoolchildren, more trips are already being made than usual. Since August 17, for example, nine additional buses have been offered on school days in the morning and five in the afternoon, according to Hoffmann. The application for subsidies refers to the 14 additional bus trips per school day, Hoffmann clarified. It is not about applying for funds for more buses. The extra bus services now in place will initially be offered until the fall vacation.

The added services on the scheduled routes reach 19 secondary schools. As an example, Hoffmann cites tram line 61, which takes passengers to a vocational college in the north of Bonn, and the lines which go to the Hardtberg school center. According to Hoffmann, two additional bus companies have been contracted for this.

Hardtberg-Gymnasium (secondary school) reports that many students are riding their bikes to school, which relieves the bus lines. They are biking to school to avoid riding in the full buses. But the large number of those coming by bike is now becoming a problem at the school because there are not enough parking spaces for them. "The number of parents who drop off their children has not increased noticeably," said Günther Schlag, the school director.

"Between 7 and 8 a.m. it's already full," says a young woman from Bonn at the main train station who takes the 605. After that, there are noticeably fewer passengers. Julius Sellenthin reports a similar experience. "So far, the buses have not been particularly full," says the 21-year-old. During the week, he always takes the 608 and 609 line from the station to Brüser Berg in the morning between 9 and 10 a.m. and back again in the late afternoon. "If I return a little earlier, when the upper school students also finish, then it’s a little fuller.”

Orig. text: Thomas Leurs

Translation: ck