Bus line 12 returns to the Gijzenrooi district in Eindhoven. Bus operator Hermes previously decided that this bus would be cancelled. That news was very bad for the residents. Jos Bossong stood up and collected 2,700 signatures. With success, because the bus will run again from April and even more often after the summer. “We are very happy here that the bus is coming back.”
Jos walks through the neighborhood while sticking. He hangs up homemade posters to let local residents know that the bus is coming back. “I remove the bags from the stop signs everywhere. Whether it is allowed or not. The bags say that the bus has been lifted. But he’s coming back, people are already coming to watch.”
Since October 22, no bus has passed through the neighborhood. “There were no staff to maintain the bus line,” says the Eindhoven activist. “But there has to be a bus. So many people depend on public transport.”
“They’ve gone completely crazy about me.”
Local residents joined Jos’ action en masse. “I collected a total of 2,700 signatures and presented them to the municipality. Councilor Dré Rennenberg helped me enormously. And I started messing around with Hermes. I think they’ve gone completely crazy with me.”
And all of Jos’ work is rewarded. The Eindhoven resident emerges as the winner. From April 2, the bus will run every hour again, Hermes said. Perhaps even more often after the summer. “There are more drivers again. There was so much to do on line 12 that we decided to return it first.”
“They are quite dependent on this bus.”
Geert van Stiphout is director of the school for special primary education De reis van Brandaan. He is very happy that the bus stops in front of the door again. “10 to 15 of our students can go to school by bus again. It has been very difficult for them to get to school in recent months.”
“Recently, those children were often late, because not all of them are from the area. So they are quite dependent on this bus,” the director explains. “Now those children can come to school independently again and we think that is very important.”
“People couldn’t believe their luck.”
The older local residents also do not mind that the bus does not run very often at first. “I was here this morning with some elderly people. They couldn’t believe their luck when they saw Jos’s posters, which said that the bus is coming back,” says Rieki van Herk of Steunpunt Jaguar.
The support center organizes, among other things, card and billiards afternoons for elderly people from the neighborhood. “Not everyone could come lately because the bus wasn’t there. The distance to another bus stop is too far for them to walk. Now that the bus is back, those people can go out again.”
