Uli Paetzel Photo: Paetzel License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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Local public transport in the Ruhr area is a disaster. Uli Paetzel, the boss of the Emschergenossenschaft has an idea that could change everything. But his opponents are powerful.
The seat of the. Built by Wilhelm Kreis in the style of the reform architecture Emschergenossenschaft in Essen, with its brick walls and high tower, looks like a dark castle. Uli Paetzel, the head of the association for the past three years, who has been taking care of the wastewater in the Ruhr area for 120 years, appears cheerful and almost youthful. Paetzel hasan idea that could solve one of the biggest problems in the Ruhr area: local transport. Under the roof of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein Ruhr (VRR), a dozen local transport companies manage to organize what is probably the most expensive and worst local transport in a European metropolitan area. High prices, lousy connections and many expensive board members are the hallmarks of the VRR and its members. Numbers make failure visible: While every fifth person in other urban regions of Germany travels by bus and train, only everyone in the Ruhr region does so Tenth.
The Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR), the association of cities in the Ruhr area, therefore asked a few weeks ago to transfer regional regional planning to him. However, after his own inability to ensure that the Ruhr Regional Plan, the basis for planning new residential quarters and commercial space, is delayed indefinitely, no one takes him seriously as an actor. Another solution is needed and Paetzel offers one.
His idea goes beyond regional transport planning: “The Ruhr region needs a breakthrough in local transport. If we want to get more people to use buses and trains, we have to act now. A small and small does not get us any further. ”Attractive local transport is not only important for climate protection, but is essential for a region called the metropolis. Paetzel’s idea: Local transport should be organized in the district by a cooperative: “With this model, the cities would bring in their local transport companies. But companies and associations such as Pro Bahn should also be there at the table. ”Paetzel wants such a cooperative not only to ensure that timetables are coordinated, but also to build:“ We need planning, construction and operation from one source Hand. The Ruhr area must have a rail system like Berlin. For this, new routes have to be built and gaps in the network have to be closed. ”For Paetzel, the social democrat and former Mayor Hertens, employee rights are also important:“ The unions are at the table, bus drivers and train drivers have safe, tariff-bound jobs and local transport would remain in public hands. ”In order to make Paetzel’s idea a reality, however, several hurdles must be overcome: Local transport is still a task for cities. The state government would have to create the legal options so that it can be taken over by a cooperative.
And then there are the local transport companies with their well-paid board members and supervisory boards. The heads of unsuccessful companies often receive top salaries in excess of 200,000 euros a year.
Upon request, the local transport company Bogestra did not comment on Paetzel’s plans and referred to the legal situation: “Public transport is a task of the districts and independent cities, as well as medium and large towns belonging to the district that operate their own public transport company or are essential to one Frank Heidenreich, the chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the VRR, doesn’t want to know about Paetzel’s proposal either: “We don’t need structural reform now, but more money in local transport. The country has given a billion euros to maintain the rail network. Now the cities should provide more money. “
The State Ministry of Transport is also not impressed by Paetzel’s proposal: “The quality of cooperation in local transport does not depend on the organizational structure – it does not matter whether the actors act as a special purpose association, public law institution, cooperative or similar. work together, but how they work together. “For the Ministry of Transport, it is important to create a better offer for today’s and potential passengers in public transport:” The fastest way to achieve this is through cooperation and digitization. Local transport is a municipal task. “
The resistance is not surprising to Paetzel: “After the first talks it was clear to me that not everyone was enthusiastic about my idea.” Paetzel hopes that the parties in the Ruhr area, especially his own, the SPD, will work for the transport cooperative. “That would be a good topic for local elections. It is a topic that interests citizens and it is not just a local one, it is a regional future topic. If we don’t manage to solve the local transport problem, the Ruhr area will have failed. ”
A similar version of the article already appeared in the Welt am Sonntag
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