PROJECT
The pilot scheme - valleybus Lungau, Murau, Nockgebiet
As the valleybus service has developed, aspects set a signal for a new orientation in the field of tourist mobility.
The valleybus project, initiated by the Arbeitskreis Verkehr (study group Transport, initiator Dr. Emil Hocevar) of the VHS (adult education center) Tamsweg and in operation since 1989, offers an innovative transport concept for the region Lungau, Murau, Nockgebiet. Its goal was to relieve the valleys of private transport and to create a new form of mobility by linking public transport with valleybuses (special minibuses.)
While in the past hikers were forced to come by car when they wanted to go for a tour in the mountains of the region, visitors can now reach every destination worth mentioning without needing a car. The exemplary interconnecting transport system has been gradually extended. At present it covers five vacation areas (Lungau, Krakau, Nockberge, Schladming, and Sölk) and connects most of the valleys in this area with each other.
The system comprises regular buses of the Post Office and the Steiermärkische Landesbahnen (a transport company operated by the Land Steiermark (provincial government of Styria)) as well as big and small buses operated by private companies. Furthermore, the Murtalbahn (a regional transport company) and most of the cable cars and chairlifts in Murau and Lungau are part of the valleybus network. Electric buses are currently being tested on two routes. With a conjunction season ticket valid for a day or a week the whole range of public transport can be used. Specific needs of vacationists have been taken into account. The valleybus schedules have been drawn up in such a way that hikers can walk from one valley to another and simply go back to the starting point by train or bus.
The valleybus system laid the foundation for traffic calming in the valleys. Visitors can now spend their vacation in a future-orientated, environmentally friendly way. Some parts of the valleys are already closed for private transport. With this initiative firm steps have been taken against a destructive process that has already begun in some areas, and which threatens to destroy the attractiveness of the unspoiled valleys for those in search of peace and relaxation.
The project was initiated by private persons which have committed themselves to it to a high degree. Therefore, the organizational structure is still highly dependent on persons. In order to secure a successful continuance of the project, it will be necessary in the long term to introduce professionalism into administration and management. It will also be necessary to find a new form of financing [>>INFO] on a different scale when the pilot scheme is transferred into a sound business.
The study suggests the same finance scheme as applied to the existing transport communities. This means that the Federal Government, the Länder, and the communities share the costs equally amongst them.
About 4.500 passengers per season make use of the valleybus at the moment. In consideration of that figure expenditure on the operation is relatively high. On the other hand, because of economical and flexible operation forms like the use of minibuses and demand-responsive service it is possible to maintain public transport service where conventional operation would be irresponsible due to great expenses. Experience has shown that even when public transport is highly developed, hardly any voluntary shift from private to public transport can be noted.
Thus, it is most important to impose restrictions on private cars. This is probably the only way to bring about cost-effective operation of the valleybus. Furthermore, it is necessary to substitute, step by step, electric valleybuses for those equipped with internal combustion engines. This measure is of great significance for the valleys where traffic calming has been introduced to the benefit of hikers.
INFO
Financing
The Financing of the project has been undertaken by all communities within the catchment area and the Länder (provinces) Salzburg, Styria, and Carinthia. The communities have paid their share in a lump sum, the shares of the Länder were allocated according to the total length of the routes in the respective provinces. The costs of the valleybus operation are made up of the public transport companies' expenses for of the operation of the lines, the expenses for organization, and the expenses for information work. The cost recovery ratio of the mere running of the buses is 38 per cent on the average but the figures for the various routes differ considerably. A cost recovery ratio of 100 per cent is achieved on routes where restrictions to private cars are imposed.
