Urban transport turnaround is slow to gain momentum

All German cities are facing major challenges. The city centres can no longer be revitalised by retail alone. They need other attractions. The quality of stay must be improved. Car traffic must not be allowed to increase any further.

The goal of an urban transport revolution is clear: more space for urban life, less noise and climate-damaging emissions, and cleaner air. However, the question of how sustainable mobility can be made more attractive keeps coming up. Dr.-Ing. Alina Wetzchewald from the Wuppertal Institute is certain that this can only be achieved with approaches that reduce car traffic. To this end, she examines German and European projects that have been implemented to date and identifies obstacles and opportunities.

In 2022, the transport sector will emit greenhouse gases amounting to around 148 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents. This corresponds to about 20 percent of total emissions in Germany. Emissions were thus around 1.1 million tonnes higher than in the previous year - the targets of the Climate Protection Act were again missed.

In order to advance the transport turnaround, the federal government, federal states, cities and municipalities have so far mainly relied on innovative rather than restrictive approaches. A good example is the promotion of new modes of transport such as electric mobility. Another good example is the 9-Euro-Ticket. The actual potential of innovations has not been fully exploited so far.

So-called exnovative measures are important complements to innovative approaches in transport. Exnovation aims to reduce unsustainable infrastructures, technologies, products and practices to a necessary minimum and instead create more suitable alternatives. If car traffic is deliberately restricted and thus made unattractive, and at the same time alternative mobility options are made more attractive, a lasting change in behaviour can be brought about.

Many German cities are already discussing the future of the car in the city. So far, however, only individual measures have been implemented in Germany. Larger projects can be found in other European countries, for example in Barcelona, London, Ghent, Paris and Oslo. For pilot projects to be successful and lead to lasting changes in behaviour, legal certainty and a holistic innovative approach are needed, accompanied by positive communication that highlights the added value.

(Photo: © Pexels, Pixabay)