Two months after its launch, the visibility of the “Our Way: Respect” campaign has increased significantly. What began as a call for greater respect on public transportation is now visible throughout the city. 

Since early June 2026, messages such as “Respect is: when your music stays private” and “Respect is: when boundaries are accepted” have been reaching passengers on online channels and inside vehicles. The campaign visuals depict passengers in various situations to raise awareness of the issues portrayed.

As part of the campaign’s expansion, two ESWE Verkehr buses were wrapped in the campaign’s design in August and are now traveling through the city with their message. Currently, posters featuring the campaign visuals can also be seen at central bus stops and on around a hundred illuminated billboards, known as “Citylights,” throughout the city. The positive, inviting tone of the visuals has been well received. Instead of taking a preachy approach, ESWE Verkehr deliberately focuses on role models and the desire for pleasant interaction.

“Our campaign calls on everyone involved in public transit to behave respectfully: This applies to both passengers and our employees and can contribute to a better atmosphere on the buses,” says Marion Hebding, managing director of ESWE Verkehr.

Gert-Uwe Mende (SPD), Mayor of Wiesbaden, adds: “Public transit employees provide essential services for all citizens of our city. Verbal or physical attacks on drivers or emergency responders are unacceptable. As a city, we therefore expressly support ESWE Verkehr’s respect campaign.”

While physical assaults on drivers and fare inspectors are on the decline in Wiesbaden’s public transit network, the number of violent incidents involving passengers attacking one another has risen. “We also view the campaign in the context of broader societal developments,” explains Hebding. “Of course, we aren’t solving societal problems. But our campaign can be a building block in the discourse, in which we promote—and also demand—greater consideration and mindfulness.”

The campaign posts are also generating high engagement rates on ESWE Verkehr’s social media channels. Many passengers share their own experiences there and offer suggestions for further measures or topics. The campaign will continue gradually over the coming months. All campaign visuals and additional information about the campaign can also be found at www.eswe-verkehr.de/respekt.html (opens in a new tab).