Tixi driver looks back on 30 years' service

The Tixi organisation in Zug is actually the second largest one of its kind in Switzerland, providing transport for disabled people who would otherwise have great difficulty in getting where they want to, for example to hospital appointments, and for an amount which is around the same as that charged on public transport. Every day it gives lifts to 200 people, thanks to its fleet of 19 vehicles, all driven by volunteers. One of them, René Simmen (second photograph), has been driving for the charity for over 30 years and spoke to a journalist of the Neue Zuger Zeitung about his experiences over all this time.
 
He explained that he had first come across the Tixi services when one of its vehicles, a beige VW minibus, was on display at the then new Zugerland shopping centre way back in 1984; and thought he might like to help. 31 years on, he is still doing the same, still finding that helping others gives something back to him, too. “Furthermore, I am able-bodied with a sound mind, too. These are things which should not take for granted, hence I willingly help out in cases where people are not as fortunate as I am,” he said.
 
What is clear is that the insurance advisor has a strong social conscience and helps out in other areas, too, for example he is highly involved in organising Fasnacht celebrations and has been president of the Baar Unicycle Association for the past 35 years.
 
He said how it saddened him when he saw people sometimes cross over on the other side of the street to avoid any contact with a disabled person, though from his pre-Tixi days he can understand this to a certain extent. After all this time chauffeuring them around, he now knows that disabled people do not want to be ignored, they want to be integrated into society like everyone else.
 
Some of those to whom he has given lifts have been seriously disabled and he recalled one man who was roaring with laughter one minute and weeping bitterly the next. On another occasion he had to drive a young French-speaking woman somewhere and all of a sudden she said she wanted to go to the loo, at a time when it was not easy for him to stop. “I told her we would soon be where she wanted to go and she became quite calm again. However, when the time came to get her out to put her in her wheelchair, she just sat there, motionless. I honestly thought she had died. Then her mother spoke to her and she immediately woke up. She had just drifted off into a deep sleep, as her mother subsequently explained, adding that this was quite normal.”
 
In all these years the 55-year-old has never declined giving a lift to anyone, though on one occasion he certainly had reason to do so. “I was just taking this elderly man somewhere and all of a sudden he asked, “Do you mind if we stop here so I can put my bicycle on top?” Well, really.” Even in this case, however, he dutifully did as the man asked and took him on his way.
 
Simmen has every intention of carrying on to help in this way, too, though he doubts he will still be doing it at 80, the maximum age permitted. “I think I will have done my bit before then,” he said.
 
There are actually some 300 volunteers who drive for Tixi Zug, and fortunately there is no shortage of drivers at present. The other good thing is that, despite the canton having cut back on its contribution by 50%, thanks to private sponsors, the service can be continued, in the short term at any rate.
 
Further information can be found on www.tixizug.ch.