District of Gütersloh to Establish On-Demand Service

In its session on February 9, 2023, the Mobility Committee of the Gütersloh District Council tasked the District Administrator with implementing on-demand transportation within the cities and communities in the district area through local taxi companies. A press release from the District Office states that, provided the affected cities and communities guarantee the necessary cost compensation to the district, the taxi companies should be offered a corresponding special agreement.

Accordingly, it is planned to designate all existing stops, including school bus stops, as starting and destination points for demand-responsive trips that are not bound to specific routes. These trips can be booked from Monday to Sunday between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., provided there is no scheduled service available in close temporal and spatial proximity. The conditions for using the public transportation taxis, marked with magnetic signs, should be "largely the same" as those applicable to scheduled services. All tickets of the Westphalia and North Rhine-Westphalia tariffs, as well as the upcoming Germany ticket, will be recognized. "Therefore, no additional charge will be levied for this product," writes the District Office literally.

This point differentiates the project from the similarly named public transportation taxi in Freudenstadt County. In the county seat and in Horb, since September 2022, an on-demand service has been offered that costs an additional two euros for trips between regular and virtual stops and an additional five euros if you are picked up at your door or dropped off at a specific address (taxi heute reported).

According to the press office of the Gütersloh District Administration, the model for the local project is the "Limo – hin und wech" project in the town of Lage in the Lippe District. In Gütersloh County, the public transportation taxi still needs to be approved by the county council. The control authority lies with the East Westphalia-Lippe Transport Association in Bielefeld.

"With this new on-demand service, there is a chance to create a true win-win situation: Taxi companies can secure their livelihood through the additional transportation orders, which is also very important for conducting medical transports. The Gütersloh County, or rather the cities and towns within the county, can leverage the existing resources (vehicles and personnel) of taxi companies when building the new service," states the district administration's press release verbatim.

According to the draft resolution for the Mobility Committee meeting, taxi operators should still receive the valid taxi fare reimbursed, but not by the passengers, rather by the public transportation task carrier. However, there should be no funds for the provision of vehicles.

"There is no public transportation company with route concessions interposed. Therefore, no corresponding profits need to be taken into account, and the taxi industry is strengthened as the backbone of public services in Gütersloh County. The product has already been implemented as a 'public transportation taxi' in model regions of southern Germany," states the draft resolution verbatim. It is also intended to offer incentives for the procurement of barrier-free, eight-seater electric vehicles. The trips should be able to be booked by phone as well as through an app.