For almost two years there has been a so-called takeaway bench in Nienhagen in the Celle district in Lower Saxony – a colorful wooden bench that you can sit on to wait for drivers who take you away. For example, to the S-Bahn to Ehlershausen in the Hanover region, ten kilometers away, where you rarely get by bus from Nienhagen because there is almost no local public transport that runs across the district boundaries. A large sign behind the bench with a curved thumb indicates that a special form of hitchhiking is offered here. And under the thumb there is a frame with signs with the names of neighboring communities. “Put the direction sign forward” is the instruction to the waiting people – so that motorists passing by can see where the person on the take-away bench is going.
And Nienhagen is not alone: In Ehlershausen and two other towns in the area there are also take-away benches, sometimes also called passenger benches. Such benches have also been set up in many other regions of Germany in recent years, for example in Mehlingen (Rhineland-Palatinate), in Waldshut-Tiengen in the south of Baden-Württemberg and in Bordesholm (Schleswig-Holstein). The hope: with the benches, mobility in rural areas can be better organized. If such options are available, not everyone has to own a car to get from A to B.
“We got a lot of positive reactions to this idea,” says Joschka Denecke, chairman of the Greenhagen association, who campaigned for these car-sharing opportunities in Nienhagen and elsewhere. In practice, however, the idea has not yet really proven itself. “The benches are not used during the Corona period because you don’t want to sit close together in the car with someone from another household,” says Denecke.
And in the time before the pandemic? “I’ve never seen anyone sitting here who wanted to be taken along,” says a woman who lives directly across from the bank in Nienhagen. Residents from many Upper Bavarian towns report similar things, where there are also many take-away benches. And activist Denecke says: “I have heard from older people in particular that they would not take someone with them in their car they did not know for fear of negative experiences.”
In addition: “If you have an appointment and have to be on time, this model is not an alternative,” adds Lothar Macht. Three years ago in Varel he ensured that three take-away benches were set up on main roads in the town of Friesland with a population of 25,000.
The take-away bank as a contact exchange
They were well used before the pandemic began, according to Macht. This may also have something to do with the special conditions in Varel: Macht issued 180 drivers and 70 potential passengers with a so-called certificate of trust. The personal details of these people were registered in order to increase the feeling of security on both sides. With this yellow ID in hand, you don’t have to rely exclusively on the take-away bank, you can stand by the road everywhere in Varel and wave to drivers, for example to get to the city center. With this ID, people would know who they are traveling with, says Macht. And could complain if necessary. “But there have never been any complaints, on the contrary,” added Macht immediately afterwards. Rather, some older women called him and asked if he could get in touch with the nice drivers they were on tour with. “Today they meet regularly for coffee.”
It is mainly retirees who do not have their own cars who are registered with Macht. If you are not yet of legal age, you need a certificate from your parents in order to receive a certificate of trust. As soon as the pandemic is under control at some point, Macht wants to stir the drum again – he likes to talk to motorists at shooting festivals and other celebrations whether they want to participate. “The willingness to do so is great,” he says. And this willingness is rewarded with small prices as an incentive, for example a free car wash. Power then sits down on a take-away bench and gives the first person to stop a voucher donated by sponsors. “Sometimes I wait five or ten minutes,” says Macht. “It never takes longer than 20 minutes for a car to stop.”
A statement that Beate Ufer confirms. The project manager at the contact and information center for self-help in Saarland ensured that eleven passenger benches were set up in the Neunkirchen district, which she tried out herself. There are four benches in Münchwies alone, with around 1,300 residents, a remote district of Neunkirchen with no shops, pharmacies and doctors. Doesn’t everyone who moves here have a car anyway? “In principle, yes, but for this reason alone, for reasons of climate protection, it makes sense to use the benches to support driving together,” says Ufer and adds: “In addition, there are many elderly people in the village in Saarland who no longer have a car themselves can control. “
In addition to promoting environmental protection and the mobility of older people, Ufer mentions another goal: The social cohesion of the local community is to be strengthened with the passenger benches. Even if the people in the manageable Münchwies mostly know each other, this is necessary. “Pensioners often live in seclusion, alone in their own home, and many have little contact,” says Ufer. But do people really sit on a passenger bench? “The benches are rarely used, even before Corona,” admits Ufer.
In Wolfratshausen near Munich there is also a car pool.
(Photo: Hartmut Pöstges)
The reasons for this are diverse. A survey showed that many people (still) rely on their own car after all, the indefinite waiting time also scares many, and the return journey is not secure. In order to at least do something against anonymity, 80 drivers willing to take them along were registered in Neunkirchen. An ID behind the windshield shows potential passengers that the car is officially registered. The organizers of the passenger benches have also considered the fear of the consequences of a possible accident – if the car insurance, accident or liability insurance does not cover damage, the state volunteer insurance of the Saarland will always step in. But even such guarantees have not really boosted the use of the passenger benches. They have at least one long-term effect, says Ufer: “By taking them with you, regular carpools have formed – you agree if you want to go shopping in Frankenholz, for example.”
Frankenholz is the neighboring village two kilometers away – and there, too, shows what is often lacking in rural areas: a functioning local public transport system. Frankenholz belongs to the city of Bexbach in the neighboring Saarpfalz district. There is no bus there from Münchwies. “Both districts have no interest in subsidizing local public transport across the district boundaries,” says Ufer. It is cheaper for the municipalities to set up a few passenger benches. There are more than 50 copies in the whole of Saarland. Critics suspect: In many places the passenger benches do not have more than an alibi function for a messed up transport policy.