In the future, the district of Munich will be relying entirely on the know-how of the Munich Transport and Tariff Association (MVV) for the conversion of all bus lines to climate-friendly drive systems that has already been decided – and spend a lot of money for it. Because the human resources that will be necessary for the design of the conversion of the bus lines within the MVV will be financed by the district, up to eight additional jobs could be created in the coming years, Detlef Metzner made it clear at the meeting of the mobility committee of the district council responsible for regional buses at MVV as division manager. However, this is still cheaper than the conversion of a bus line to third parties, i.e. to external planning offices, added district administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU), who once again emphasized that the district of Munich is an absolute pioneer in this area; Awards to third parties would cost a fortune, according to the district administrator, “millions”.
Ottobrunn’s mayor is against it
The conversion of the bus lines in the district of Munich – the first electric bus in the district operates as a municipal bus in Unterföhring – is a program that will last for years and now includes special prioritization of individual routes. In the years 2026 and 2027 in particular, far more than 20 lines are to be converted; until 2031 all bus routes will be successively expanded. Oberhaching’s Mayor Stefan Schelle (CSU) said that the lines should be targeted first, which can be converted most efficiently, his Unterschleißheim colleague Christoph Böck (SPD) also said that he hoped for an “increase in efficiency”. However, the planned increase in the workforce was not well received by all district councils. Günter Heyland (free voters), for example, spoke of the MVV know-how being built up by the district, which would then also benefit other districts, but he also welcomed it in principle “fastest possible” conversion.
Only Ottobrunn’s mayor, Thomas Loderer, voted against it. The emissions saved are just “little barrels,” he scoffed, it was a huge mistake for a district to push ahead in this way, since there were no more kilometers driven and the service in the buses was not increased. “The first mover is the first idiot,” says Loderer.