Fekter: Elementary school students ask for a school bus
Elementary school students ask for a school bus – Wiener Linien (Vienna public transport) declines!
ORF-Series “Bürgeranwalt” – Broadcast of April, 26th 2008
Originally it was a separate municipality and since the end of the 30’ it has become a district of Vienna. This is Süßenbrunn. Mainly young people have settled down in the 22nd district of Vienna on the edge of town, where they enjoy seeing their children grow up in a green environment.
The parents, however, were not aware until recently that it would become a problem to find out how to get the children to school. Until summer 2006, the children went together to an elementary school taking a bus that stopped directly in front of the school. However, the after-school child care closed.
The parents had to look for another school. They found a school at approximately 5 km as the crow flies from Süßenbrunn. In the meantime, all the 25 children of the area go to this school. After class, 22 children go to the affiliated after-school care club. There, they have lunch and do their homework. The parents are very pleased with this arrangement.
The only problem now is that it takes an hour for the children to go to school with public transportation. They have to change twice if they take the subway and three times if they take the rapid train railway. It is understandable if the parents do not wish to expect that from 7 or 8 years old. The only solution is to take the children by car. 4 drives every day do not only represent a time consuming load but also an organization problem.
Every suggestion from the parents to organize a direct school bus connection has been declined by the public transports. “Not possible” or “uneconomic” was the answer of the Wiener Linien.
Ombudswoman Maria Fekter tried to mediate in the ORF- series „Bürgeranwalt“ (people’s advocate) – Broadcast of April 26th 2008. It is true according to her, that as the Wiener Linien do not offer a school bus system, if the children want to go to school using public transportation, they have to use the existing network. However the Wiener Linien actually take into account the necessities of parents and children, notes Ombudswoman Maria Fekter. In the whole Viennese area special routes are taken on workdays and during the semester, in the morning and after class, differing from the normal route, and stopping in front of the school or at least close to their doors.
Such a special route also existed to the elementary school were the children of Süßenbrunn use to go until summer 2006. As the children left the school the bus was running almost empty. After a few months, in December 2006, that route was cancelled. This bus should only be reestablished says Ombudswoman Maria Fekter. If the route were to be extended, adding two more stops, the children would not have to change transport several times.
This alternative had not yet been taken into account. “I will submit such a suggestion to the Wiener Linien this very day” assured Ombudswoman Maria Fekter to the parents.
Stairs with no railing – The municipality of Vienna is held liable.
An 87 years old Viennese woman will not forget that easily the 24 of February. On that day, she went to the pharmacy in the Street Oswaldgasse in Vienna Meidling. From there, she wanted to go to a nearby drugstore. On the way she had to take a few steps.
On the steps she felt dizzy. As she looked for support, she saw that there was no railing on which to hold on. She thus fell down on the asphalt and broke her thighbone.
The injured woman is still not without pain. She still uses the support of a walking frame. She cannot spare a reproach to the Municipality of Vienna: “If there had only been a railing – as required, she would not have fallen.” The City Hall refuses to take the responsibility for the accident. The open space had been erected by a building constructer and had been handed over in that state to the Municipality of Vienna. This constructor had hired well known architects and consulting engineers. And they had not considered a railing to be necessary.
Ombudswoman Maria Fekter does not agree with these arguments. She reminded the Municipality of Vienna that stairs - whether indoors or outdoors – had to have a railing at least on one side. It is also obligatory to place at the beginning and at the end of a flight of steps pavement markings so that visually impaired should not come to harm. “Such markings are still missing,” said the ombudswoman, who also pointed out, that already several pedestrians had come to harm on those same stairs.
“The Municipality is liable for this omission” Ombudswoman Maria Fekter went on to say and she encouraged during the broadcast “Bürgeranwalt” the representative of the Municipality’s Building Management to offer appropriate compensation for pain and suffering to the concerned party.
It should also be mentioned that the missing banister was duly placed next to the stairs only a few weeks after the accidents. “Unfortunately these improvements came too late for the injured person” said the Ombudswoman.