It can only get better.

Rarely has the annual timetable change been so longed for in the west of the Rhine-Main region as this year.

Because a lot has to go wrong in local public transport if a district publicly exposes the bus company it has commissioned as unreliable and brands the conditions as catastrophic.

Corona, flu, shortage of skilled workers, fluctuation: There may have been a variety of reasons why bus transport in the Rheingau-Taunus was on the verge of collapse.

However, the paying customers did not have to be interested in this.

He rightly expects that the promised transport services will actually be provided, especially in school transport.

More partner companies than before should at least significantly minimize the risk of similar unsustainable conditions from next week onwards.

More buses in rural areas

After far too many years of stagnation, the fact that the Rheingau-Taunus district, which covers more than 800 square kilometers, will spend significantly more money in the future to strengthen bus transport in rural areas and even establish completely new connections is good news for the 180,000 district citizens.

In connection with the 49-euro ticket, the introduction of which is now finally promised for spring, public transport could also experience an upswing in a district in which doing without the car has so far been hardly imaginable.

New, flexible on-demand shuttles like those in Taunusstein and recently also in Idstein open up other mobility options.

The new local transport plan, which is still being drawn up, must focus even more closely than before on the interlocking between the state capital Wiesbaden and the surrounding district.

In fact, the question arises whether, in view of the close links between the city and the surrounding area, much more cooperation, including a joint local transport company, would not be necessary.

In any case, coexistence instead of togetherness, which can still be observed far too often, cannot be the future.

The reactivation of the Aartalbahn could provide a new impetus.

The snail's pace at which a study is once again being prepared does not bode well.