Every second bridge in Germany is in bad condition. This is shown by a study that covered the entire municipal transport network in Germany and calculated the investment requirements for maintenance, renovation and modernization. The study was carried out by the German Institute for Urban Studies (DIFU) on behalf of the Main Association of the German Construction Industry (HDB), the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and the ADAC.
According to the HDB, the study offers for the first time ever a “large transport policy inventory at municipal level”. The length of the municipal road network was calculated, which is 714,000 kilometers. There are also 10,000 tram stops and 900 kilometers of subway tracks in Germany.
The authors of the study walked the streets and interviewed the municipalities in order to be able to assess the condition of the transport network. The entire study can be viewed at DIFU website. The situation is particularly worrying for roads and bridges. Every tenth kilometer of road is in a “very bad” condition, with the DIFU classifying more than 20 percent of the road as “poor”. Of the total of 3,600 kilometers of municipally owned bridges, every second one needs to be renovated. In the public transport network, the situation is less dramatic: there, work is mainly needed on tram and subway routes. However, more than 75 percent of these are in a “sufficient” to “as new” condition.
Based on this information, the authors of the study calculated the investment requirements that municipalities would have to invest in their transport networks by 2030 in order to make up for missed repairs, replace sections of road and expand the transport network appropriately. This is 372 billion euros. 68 billion euros of this would have to be invested in local public transport, but the larger part in the road network, which accounts for a significantly larger share of the entire transport network.
The financing of the investments must be borne primarily by the municipalities, but the federal and state governments should support them. The Municipal Transport Financing Act, which enables municipalities to have large rail projects financed proportionately by the federal government, could play an important part in local public transport. The funding for the law was increased at the beginning of 2020. As a result, the number of funded projects quadrupled between 2019 and 2023.
In order to be able to cover the required investment requirement of 372 billion, the clients and authors of the study are calling for the state to further increase subsidies. Only then can one satisfy the basic needs of the citizens and keep Germany attractive as a business location. A functioning transport network is also an important prerequisite for this.