In order to know when the bus is coming, a look at the timetable posted at the bus stop should be enough. However, everyone knows that this information is not always entirely reliable, as buses are sometimes late. You used to look impatiently in the direction from which it should finally come if you still want to catch the S-Bahn or be on time for your appointment. The passenger remained in the dark as to whether this would happen in the foreseeable future. Today, however, there are digital displays with the promising name “dynamic passenger information systems”. A brisk thing, it seems, but quite expensive. Too costly for a municipality like Unterhaching, which just keeps an eye on every cent.
In doing so, Unterhaching actually wanted to become just as modern as other municipalities, in which the electronic displays, as known from the S-Bahn, also reveal the remaining waiting minutes at bus stops. This should improve the “user-friendliness”, according to the town hall. And two years ago, when the municipal council decided to grant the residents of Unterhaching this service, the majority of the committee was still convinced that they wanted to afford it. After all, 80 percent of the investment costs totaling 125,000 euros are covered by a funding program from the government of Upper Bavaria.
The installation of dynamic passenger information systems is already in full swing at three locations. The displays are to be installed on St.-Alto-Strasse and Biberger Strasse before the end of this year, while there is still no power connection at Fasanenpark, but the actual arrival of the bus should also light up here in the coming year. But now five more stations should be equipped with the achievements of modern technology. Nine pillars with medium and small advertisements were planned for the sports park, the cemetery, Ottobrunner Strasse, Sommerstrasse and the school at the sports park. However, the municipal council stopped these installations with a narrow majority. Because despite the high funding, the municipality should have donated around 50,000 euros because a few additional masts would also be necessary. And that wasn’t worth it to many on the board.
“It’s a nice thing, but it doesn’t make the bus go faster,” Richard Raiser, third mayor of the CSU, explained his no to this bus stop expansion. Alfons Hofstetter from the Free Voters asks the question: “If I see the ad at the cemetery that the bus is ten minutes late and I can’t get the S-Bahn, what do I get out of it? Except that I’m annoyed?” Peter Hupfauer (FDP) does not see the point in a dynamic passenger information system either: “It’s better for us to let the buses run on time than for us to show people how late they are,” he said, referring to the budget situation at some point the community has to start postponing unnecessary expenses.
Above all, most of the municipal council are convinced that passengers can use the MVV app to find out whether their bus will be on time. But the Greens in particular did not want to accept that. Many older people also use the bus, and they don’t necessarily say easily: “I’ll look it up in the app,” said Claudia Köhler. The Greens asked whether Unterhaching wanted to continue on the road or rather on public transport. Without dynamic passenger information systems, they see their own community falling behind others.