Why in Murnau there will soon be no more buses – Bavaria

It sounds like an offer you can’t refuse: “Do you want a climate-friendly, barrier-free transport system in Murnau that can be used by everyone?” That’s the question that the people of Murnau could soon put to a vote by their own market town council, and how could they say no on July 23rd? On the same day, however, the citizens of Murnau will also have to decide whether they want to keep their call-a-bus system called Omobi, which has been recognized throughout Germany and has received many awards, and whether they are also in favor of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen phasing out this call-bus principle in two years will expand to the wider area.

Many people in Murnau already see their on-call buses, which have been subsidized by the Free State as an exemplary mobility project in rural areas with a lot of tax money, as a generally usable, climate-friendly and barrier-free transport system. In their hopeless ongoing dispute with Mayor Rolf Beuting (ÖDP), the municipal councils recently refused to extend the Omobi contract beyond the end of June.

So the Senior Citizens’ Council easily collected more than enough signatures for a pro-Omobi referendum. It is precisely this citizens’ request that the council majority now wants to counter with a council request with the question of promotion, which can hardly be denied. And from July 1st until at least the day of the decision on July 23rd, probably nothing will work in Murnau anymore.

In most cases, a council request is made by the municipal council against a citizens’ request that it does not want to comply with. If the majority of citizens vote yes in both cases, a decision question must provide clarity. In this case, however, it is completely open whether a correct contrast can be constructed at all between a council request formulated in such general terms and both citizens’ requests for Omobi and for its planned successor, which the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen from 2025 on under the name “Blaues-Land- Bus” wants to drive through a much larger area. While the Council formally confirmed the admissibility of the two citizens’ requests on Tuesday evening, there is only one very fresh application that has not yet been decided on.

The justification for this application gives an indication of what most municipal councils want to achieve with this: “We believe that a holistic and needs-oriented combination of different elements (including circular bus, Blue Land bus, call-collective taxi, taxi vouchers for the needy) is better promotion system for all Murnau residents.” The CSU, the Free Voters, the SPD and a group called “Move More” submitted the application on Tuesday. The Murnau Greens are divided on the Omobi issue. While their council members are part of the very large opposition coalition against Beuting and its ÖDP/citizens’ forum, the green base still thinks very highly of Omobi.

The dial-a-bus has been available since summer 2020. Anyone who wants to use it can book the trip well in advance or order it spontaneously using a mobile app or telephone, just like with a taxi. One of the dark Omobi minibuses then collects as many passengers as possible at suitable stops – when and where exactly, a computer calculates this and displays it in the app. The system was developed by a local start-up company, which has received many awards for it and is trying to do business in other communities – most recently with a call-a-bus based on fixed routes in Holzkirchen, Upper Bavaria.

The call-a-bus critics in Murnau would also prefer a regular bus that does not have to be ordered first, but is reliably available at the station when a train arrives there. Beuting, on the other hand, wants to save the Rufbus. On Tuesday evening, the councilors reacted angrily to the mayor’s suggestion that a combination of both systems could definitely be found: That’s exactly what they suggested last year. In 2022, after a two-year test phase, the council had only extended the on-call bus by one year and also approved a part-time position in the town hall for a municipal mobility manager. However, the concept that was supposed to be presented by the autumn has not yet been received.

In Murnau, too, it’s all about money

In addition to such local political squabbles, the Murnauer Rufbus is primarily about money. A single journey now costs each passenger 2.50 euros. But the municipality pays – like practically every municipality with all public transport variants – a lot more. Including the high state subsidies from a wide variety of pots, the true costs amount to 17 to 19 euros per trip, at least according to the calculation of a CSU local council. However, the funding notification for the free state start-up funding is only valid for a maximum of five years. The information from the town hall that the market community may even have to pay back the subsidy because it has not operated the on-call bus for at least six years, the municipal councilors said they never received before Tuesday evening, despite earlier inquiries.

The state government also knows that such innovative solutions for local public transport in the country are far from self-sustaining and that they are not cheap in other respects either. There are “great ideas, but that costs crazy money,” said Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) a year ago in Prien am Chiemsee, where Bavaria’s district administrators had gathered and at the same time a similar on-demand system as in Murnau was put into operation. “Rosi” is intended to enable 50,000 residents in eleven communities between Rosenheim and Lake Chiemsee to live everyday life without their own car. The cooperation partners there include Deutsche Bahn and the Berlin start-up Clevershuttle.

After DB withdrew from Clevershuttle as the majority owner, the start-up had to file for insolvency a few days ago – just like the company Door2door, which was also considered one of the on-demand pioneers in Germany, a few months ago. Omobi in Murnau is still on the way.