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Old Posted Oct 8, 2021, 6:42 PM
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Berlin’s Car Ban Campaign: ‘It’s About How We Want To Live, Breathe And Play’

Berlin’s Car Ban Campaign: ‘It’s About How We Want To Live, Breathe And Play’


6 Oct 2021

By Leander Jones

Read More: https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...eathe-and-play

Quote:
A citizens’ initiative calling for a ban on private car use in central Berlin would create the largest car-free urban area in the world. The campaign group Berlin Autofrei has taken the first step in a process known as the people’s referendum, submitting a petition with more than 50,000 signatures calling for a ban covering the 88 sq km (34 sq mile) area circled by the “S-Bahn ring” trainline – an area roughly equal in size to all the boroughs in London’s zones 1 and 2. People who depend on their cars for their trade or because they have impaired mobility would be exempt, as would emergency services. Everyone else would each be permitted up to 12 rented car journeys a year – in case they need to move house, for example.

- But is banning cars necessary, and what is wrong with electric vehicles? “We would need about half of cars to go electric next year in order to meet the federal government’s own targets for transportation emissions,” said Nik Kaestner, from the campaign. “That clearly isn’t going to happen – currently only 1.3% of vehicles in Germany are electric. So the only solution is to reduce the amount of driving that’s happening, not just to change how we drive.” --- Manuel Wiemann, a spokesperson for the initiative, said cars also polluted through tyre wear, “occupy far too much common space and unnecessarily endanger human lives, whether electric or diesel”. --- A 2014 report commissioned by Berlin’s regional parliament found that 58% of traffic space was devoted to cars, even though only a third of journeys on Berlin streets (and only 17% within the S-Bahn ring) were made by car. Only 3% was set aside for bicycles, which accounted for 15% of journeys (18% within the ring).

- Nina Noblé, one of the initiative’s founders, said: “It’s as much about our immediate environment as it is about the environment at large. It’s about how we all want to live, breathe and play together. We want people to be able to sleep with their windows open, and children to be able to play in the street again. And grandparents should be able to ride their bicycles safely and have plenty of benches to take a breather on.” Although historically anti-car campaigns in Europe have tended to have very limited success, Berlin Autofrei may prove different. The campaign is using a special form of direct democracy enshrined in the German constitution. --- “The federal environmental ministry did a study recently and 91% of people said they would be happier without a car. Moreover, only a third of individual Berliners actually have a car,” said Kaestner. But he admitted this “doesn’t mean people will automatically be in favour. If it does get to a final vote, it will be about motivating the base just like in every other tight election.”

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