PA will actively continue working at complementary solutions in future and will require for this contribution of volunteering members. If you are interested in exploring, developing and setting-up collective solutions, please join us and make it happen!

U-Bahn + Shuttle
No U-Bahn station is at a walking distance from the ESF and the U-Bahn is therefore underused although it is the more cost-effective and environmental friendly than individual cars. An idea to be explored would consist in bridging the gap between an U-Bahn station close to the school and the ESF with a shuttle with rotations between 07.50 and 08.45 in the morning and 15.00 and 17.00 in the afternoon. Although it seems straight forward, many aspects have to be taken care of and organized, such as setting-up: a safe environment at the U-Bahn station where children and students can wait for the bus. The stations HeddernheimerLandstrasse and Niedersursel offer large dead-end street area which seem appropriate.

Organize collective transport of the youngest and their collection in the U-Bahn, from the city-center (ECB ?). This would involve care-takers…
on the way back, organize pick-up points where parents can collect the pupils…
get subsidies to reduce the costs associated to the shuttle as offers from bus companies for such small connections are nearly as expensive as driving through the city.

Additional bus routes
More or even maybe different bus routes will be needed. The PA collected many offers and details from various companies and will support the creation of any new route as soon as enough ESF parents express the need for it. PA is therefore seeking volunteers or Point of Contact (PoC) to look into such potential routes and gather the interests.

Share the contact details
It is very frustrating especially for newcomers not to be able to contact other ESF parents in their neighborhood to organize car sharing etc. Some other international school publish a phonebook with all parents details to all parents, with the exception of those who preferred not to disclose their contact details. This is something which could be investigated for the ESF. Here again, volunteers to look into the technical and legal aspects are needed.

A U-Bahn station at the ESF
There would be some (long term) plans to extend the U-Bahn lines in the Nordwest-Zentrum and create a station at the ESF school. Only few information is known to PA so far and any enthusiastic volunteering parents will be warmly welcome to investigate further the if, how and when this will happen. An important aspect is also the side-effect it may have onto the access to school during the construction period.