Jena honored as "Mobility Node 2019"

On April 4, 2019 in Berlin, the Federal Association of German Bus and Coach Operators (bdo) announced Jena as one of the winning cities in the 2019 "Mobility Hub of the Year" competition.

Saalfeld was the second Thuringian city to beat off competition from all over Germany to secure the award following a detailed jury assessment. The awards praise efforts to facilitate the networking of different modes of transport. The prize is awarded in four categories - in each case according to the population of the cities. The other two awards went to Hamburg and Oldenburg.

Patron Enak Ferlemann, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, commented on the importance of the best possible networking of different modes of transport and the impact of the competition: "We want to enable more mobility and at the same time relieve the pressure on the roads in our cities. To achieve this, we need intelligent mobility services that optimally link the different modes of transport. The winning cities are exemplary examples of how this can be achieved. Other cities should follow these good examples so that even more people are happy to switch to the environmentally friendly travel chain."

In addition to receiving an award, Jena has scored a special coup: a Flixbus with Jena motifs will advertise the city for a year.

Two years ago, Lord Mayor Thomas Nitzsche, as a city councillor, brought Jena into play with an application. This has now been successful at the second attempt.

He says: "Good long-distance transport connections are essential for Jena: university, business and science are inconceivable without connections. We are currently fighting for better long-distance rail connections. But long-distance bus transport also plays a key role for us: that's multimodality in action! The conditions in Jena are good: trains, buses and local transport come together centrally at Paradiesbahnhof. I am very proud that first place now goes to the City of Light. This is an incentive to continue to create good conditions for long-distance transport. The Flixbus with Jena motifs will do its part to attract many out-of-towners to Jena and to Paradies!"