App for carpooling: With "Pendla" to the workplace

Rising fuel prices, long traffic jams on the roads to Wiesbaden, and there are hardly any free parking spaces: For commuters from the Rheingau-Taunus district, driving to work is not pure joy and public transport is often hardly an option.

Apparently, the district administration has managed to land a real mobility coup with an innovative project.

The “Pendla” pilot project, a digital mediation platform for carpooling, was started about two months ago.

In the meantime, commuters have joined together in around 500 carpools, said district councilor Thomas Wieczorek (SPD).

“With Pendla, we have captured the spirit of the times because the platform reflects the mood.

The potential of carpooling is enormous," said Wieczorek, who is the district's head of road construction.

According to him, more than 3,000 users have registered on the platform so far.

The deputy went on to say that no one expected such a result.

In mid-March, Wieczorek said that the Rheingau-Taunus district was one of the pioneers in Germany when using the app.

In order to increase acceptance, cities like Idstein and Taunusstein are on board.

According to Günter Döring (SPD), head of the transport department, all 17 towns and communities in the district are now involved.

Wiesbaden wants to participate

The app is an online service that is available on tablets, cell phones and PCs.

Anyone who would like to take part can register on the website

.

Participation is free of charge for citizens, the costs within the car pools are regulated by the commuters among themselves.

The operator of the Pendla app is Fastinnds GmbH from Grevenbroich.

The Rheingau-Taunus district was not the first licensee of the app in March, as the Ostalb district had also subscribed to the offer.

According to initiator Wieczorek, the costs are one cent per inhabitant and month, so that the Rheingau-Taunus district with its approximately 187,000 inhabitants will have to pay around 22,400 euros a year.

Under the motto "Neighbors become passengers", the district makes the digital search engine available to its citizens free of charge.

Apparently, the investment is worthwhile, which also has to do with the fact that around 90,000 commuters are on the move in the district every day.

Many of them commute within the district area, but there are also thousands on the way to the surrounding larger cities, such as Wiesbaden.

Consequently, Wieczorek also discussed the topic with the city of Wiesbaden and reported in March that the state capital was not ready yet.

This has changed now.

"There is another piece of good news: Wiesbaden would also like to take part in Pendla soon," announced Döring.

This makes it possible to build a “strong network” throughout the region.

In Wiesbaden, the mobility committee dealt with the topic in May at the request of the SPD.

The motion was accepted with a majority