By Political Measures for Mobility and Economy
An accompanying survey to the study shows: A lot has happened. People perceive that the options for sustainable mobility have indeed improved in recent years. Overall, 40 percent of respondents say the options have significantly (6 percent) or somewhat (34 percent) improved. However, there are significant differences depending on the size of the municipality. The greatest need for action in their region, according to the respondents, lies in the improvement of bus and train connections (80 percent), better cycling infrastructure (44 percent), and the simplified use of different modes of transport within a single journey (42 percent). The Alliance for Sustainable Mobility emphasizes the great opportunities that exist for the federal government, states, and municipalities in promoting sustainable mobility both for transportation and economic policy.
“If 80 percent of people in Germany see the expansion of bus and train connections as necessary, it is a clear mandate to the federal and state governments to increase regionalization funds. With additional buses and trains, we can convince even more people to leave their cars at home. A better public transport offer also includes more attractive stations. Only one in five stations in the country still belongs to the federal government. Especially in rural areas, the federal states together with the municipalities are challenged to upgrade their stations so that people are happy to arrive and can comfortably reach their destination by bus, bicycle, or carsharing,” explains Dirk Flege, Managing Director of Allianz pro Schiene.
Alexander Möller, VDV Managing Director, demands that for more and successful sustainable mobility offerings, one needs tangible political decisions instead of declarations of intent. The expansion and modernization pact from the current coalition agreement of the traffic light coalition is the chance to maintain, expand, and digitize the public transport offer. Metropolitan areas, rural areas, and offerings such as on-demand services must be particularly focused on, and additionally, the funds for the Municipal Transport Financing Act for new construction, expansion, and modernization of infrastructures in public transport must be increased.
“The demand for carsharing is continuously increasing in Germany. One in five citizens now wishes for an expansion of the offering. The carsharing industry is responding to this by growing in breadth and densifying the offering in cities. We expect the federal, state, and local governments to create provisioning locations for carsharing in public spaces more quickly and then also equip them with charging infrastructure,” demanded Gunnar Nehrke, Managing Director of the Federal Carsharing Association.
From the perspective of Wasilis von Rauch, Managing Director of Zukunft Fahrrad, secure infrastructure ensures equal conditions. If all road users, whether on foot, by bike, or by public transport, could travel safely and reliably, there would be true freedom of choice and fair competition.
“Those who invest in infrastructure beyond the car will reap sustainable transport. At the same time, the sectors of sustainable mobility should be strengthened and specifically promoted to harness the economic potentials of the mobility economy and achieve the transformation towards a sustainable economy,” advocates von Rauch.
The alliance has set out 10 points for mobility and economy and outlined concrete political measures. In this way, offerings for sustainable mobility are improved, and the opportunities of the mobility economy for value creation, employment, and income are utilized.
Translated automatically from German.
