Image: Volker Weihbold
More than 12,000 commuters use Upper Austria’s buses every day. Transport Association (OÖVV) to Linz. With a share of 40 percent, employees from the Mühlviertel make up the largest proportion of commuters to Linz. It is not for nothing that the routes from the Mühlviertel are among the busiest bus routes in all of Upper Austria. The transport association will further strengthen these connections in the coming weeks. Additional offers are to come into effect in two stages after the semester break and immediately after Easter.
The extensions primarily affect the connections from Rohrbach-Berg, Bad Leonfelden, Gallneukirchen, Hagenberg, Freistadt and Königswiesen to the state capital. In total, the timetable offer will be expanded by 300,000 bus kilometers per year, said Infrastructure and Mobility Councilor Günther Steinkellner (FP) and the Managing Director of the Upper Austrian Transport Association, Herbert Kubasta, in a broadcast at the weekend. This will continue to drive the consistent expansion of public transport in Upper Austria. “Since 2018, more state budget funds have flowed into public transport than into road construction. In doing so, we are sending a clear signal in the direction of a mobility turnaround without neglecting the implementation of important road construction projects,” says Steinkellner.
The fact that the current expansion is concentrated on the districts of Freistadt, Urfahr-Umwelt and Rohrbach has to do with the fact that – as reported in the OÖN in November – a complete new tender for the entire bundle of routes is imminent in the Perg district for 2024 anyway. This is currently being prepared.
After the regional bus service had already achieved record passenger numbers last year, those responsible for the transport association are expecting a further increase from March: From then on, the Upper Austria climate ticket, which is significantly cheaper than the currently applicable tariffs, will be available again.
In view of the staff shortages that are also rampant in the bus companies, serving these increases with additional offers is tantamount to a feat of strength, says OÖVV Managing Director Herbert Kubasta: “In order for us to be able to implement these improvements, we not only need the appropriate financial resources, but also transport companies, who can implement these performance enhancements.” In times like these, it cannot be taken for granted that this alliance with the transport companies was successful.
Source: Nachrichten
