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A call bus is being introduced in the Kleiner Wiesental, which even goes to Kühlenbronn – Kleines Wiesental

A call bus is being introduced in the Kleiner Wiesental, which even goes to Kühlenbronn – Kleines Wiesental

There will be a call bus in Kleiner Wiesental from mid-December. This means that small hamlets will also be connected for the first time.

Ride-on benches like here in Gresgen are...required "Bus on demand" comes. | Photo: Gerald Nill

Carpool benches like the one here in Gresgen may soon be superfluous when the new public transport service “Bus on Demand” comes along. Photo: Gerald Nill

From mid-December, a completely new bus service will close rural areas in Wiesental and Kleiner Wiesental in the evenings and on weekends. “Bus on demand” is the magic word. Mobility expert Melanie Mühlhäuser was amazed at the blessing that was coming to districts that had never seen a bus before. Fischenberg and Kühlenbronn, very remote hamlets in the Kleiner Wiesental, even the Obere Belchenhöfe will be connected to the bus network in the near future.

It serves as a supplement to the development and free public transport offering, which is far from sufficient, especially in the Kleiner Wiesental, as Mühlhäuser explained to the local council. The small nine-seaters will be in use on request via app and by call in the evenings on weekdays from 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. and on weekends. Even if local public transport does not yet exist in rural areas. Mühlhäuser commented on the new offer with the words: “It quickly sounds too good to be true.” And further: “I’m really looking forward to it. This will be a good thing.” The new offer will be valid from December 15th and will expand the existing bus network.

Even the mayor gets excited

“On Demand” means “on order” and the passenger can request their bus spontaneously or permanently, via app or by phone. The mobility expert informed the local councilors that neither the app nor the hotline currently exist. But on November 25th the app will be “armed”. To use the on-demand bus, you only need to buy a normal ticket without a surcharge, it said.

The district has targeted the communities of Kleines Wiesental, Schopfheim, Steinen, Maulburg, Hausen, Zell, Schönau, Böllen and Wembach as the area of ​​operation for the new bus service. Until now, train drivers in Wiesental who want to get to small towns after 5 p.m. have had to stick out their thumb or call relatives and have them picked up. This will soon be a thing of the past. Of course, an attempt was made to effectively link several destinations when there were several requirements, Mühlhäuser continued.

One of the three minibuses is wheelchair accessible. They’re still trying to figure out what the catch is. But she doesn’t find him. Boarding points every 250 to 600 meters, “virtual stopping points where there have never been any stops before,” even Mayor Gerd Schönbett raved about. In the future, the local council meetings will end at 9 p.m. so that everyone can get home with the “Bus on Demand”, including the participants from Sallneck, joked Schönbett. “And if it takes longer, then you just run,” Matthias Leisinger took aim at his Sallnecker colleague Dirk Achilles. The fact is: the local council had not expected this and viewed the offer as a real opportunity.

Info: The new on-demand bus will be presented to the public at two information events: on November 26th at 6 p.m. in the Schopfheim town hall and at the Cold Market on December 3rd with a stand in Schopfheim.

Even hamlets that have never seen anyone" connected to public transport. | Photo: Gerald Nill

Even hamlets that have never seen a bus, such as Kühlenbronn in the Kleiner Wiesental, will soon be connected to public transport through the “Bus on Demand” offer. Photo: Gerald Nill