Federal Minister for Transport Patrick Schnieder visits BUS2BUS in Berlin
In his opening remarks, Federal Minister for Transport Patrick Schnieder emphasized the importance of the bus industry. He then took a tour of the exhibition to see the exhibitors’ latest innovations
Federal Minister for Transport Patrick Schnieder speaking with Christiane Leonard, Managing Director of bdo, during a tour of BUS2BUS.
Sustainable, effective mobility in Germany would be unthinkable without buses, emphasized Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder in his speech at BUS2BUS. He praised BUS2BUS as a showcase for innovation and a forum for new ideas. In light of rising fuel prices, he promised support, including through the Emergency Energy Program approved by the coalition committee. To become more resilient to global energy crises, the federal government has also relaunched funding programs for electric mobility. In addition to public transit buses, long-distance and tour buses are also expected to benefit from investments, for example in charging infrastructure.
Patrick Schnieder also sees potential solutions to the problem of the shortage of skilled workers. For instance, both training and the recognition of foreign driver’s licenses are to be simplified and made less bureaucratic. At the same time, he sees enormous future and economic potential in autonomous driving. Germany could take on a leading role and become the leading market. Rural areas in particular would benefit from robotaxis and buses.
bdo: A Strong Partner
Earlier, bdo President Karl Hülsmann had asked the minister to involve the bus industry in decision-making as early as possible and to provide members with planning certainty. This is because uncertainties and delays waste many resources that are urgently needed elsewhere. A specific proposal from the bdo president: a digital user data collection system for the Deutschlandticket to ensure fair accounting of expenses. A working group on autonomous driving has been formed within the association, in which small and medium-sized enterprises are exploring the technology and its potential applications.
Following the speeches, Patrick Schnieder got an overview of the exhibitors’ innovations. At DB Regio, he learned about charging infrastructure at train stations. At the BVG booth, he tried out a bus driving simulator. New bus models were presented to him at the booths of MAN Trucks & Bus Deutschland and Daimler Buses. The winners of the BUS2BUS Startup Award explained a future technology to the Minister of Transport: The Zurich-based company Winduction has developed a method that allows buses to be charged via their wheels.