Why Several Cities in Germany Have Fake Bus Stops

Lukas of Mind the Map explained why several cities across Germany have deliberately installed fake bus stops that don’t have pickups. These stops are placed next to institutions that take care of people with profound memory issues such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in order to keep the patients from wandering away unprotected.

People affected by dementia are often disoriented, restless, and mentally live in the past. This causes many of them to want to go back to their old jobs, their old homes, or long passed away parents. …The fake bus stops keeps them from wandering off when they try to go back to their old lives.

This Idea Is Not Without Its Critics

Some believe it is cruel to let these patients think they are going somewhere when they are not.

Health experts often criticize these phantom bus stops as cruel and cynical lies that don’t take the dementia patients seriously.