More 30 km/h zones, play streets and bus and bicycle lanes – the traffic light wants new road traffic law. But the state governments surprisingly blocked Transport Minister Wissing’s reform.
New regulations in road traffic law that were intended to give cities and municipalities more leeway, for example to set up bus lanes and 30 km/h zones, failed in the Federal Council.
A law passed by the Bundestag that required approval failed to achieve the required majority in the state chamber. The amendment to the road traffic regulations cannot therefore come into force for the time being. Now the mediation committee could be called to negotiate a compromise.
More emphasis on climate and environmental protection
The proposed law provided that states and municipalities would have more flexibility in traffic planning. Municipalities could then give priority to local public transport or vehicles with alternative drives through special lanes, expand cycle paths, set up play streets or set a speed limit of 30 km/h in the area around schools and daycare centers. There should also be more leeway for the rules for resident parking spaces.
The municipalities should continue to take traffic safety and rapid progress into account, but both are no longer the sole decisive factors for decisions. Climate, environmental and health protection should instead play a greater role.
Wissing: “Room for action not wished”
The fact that the federal states are now stopping the project comes as a surprise. Around a year ago, several cities wrote a letter to the federal government. They called for more flexibility so that they could decide on site which streets they would like to reduce the speed on.
But according to Winfried Hermann, Transport Minister of Baden-Württemberg, reservations have recently been expressed about the law. Before the vote, the Green politician once again campaigned for the amendment. The focus on climate protection in no way calls traffic safety into question, he argued.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing regretted the failure of the new road traffic regulations. “I very much regret that the states did not agree to the adjustment of the road traffic law in the Bundesrat,” said the FDP politician to the dpa news agency in Mainz. “We wanted to give the municipalities more scope for action locally. But obviously the states don’t want that.”
Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said a great opportunity had been missed. The Green politician emphasized that local public transport would have been strengthened and cyclists and pedestrians would have been able to move more freely and safely in cities.
City council disappointed by the failure of the reform
Several countries criticized the failure of the plans. The German Association of Cities explained that the reform would have been a first step towards giving more decision-making scope in planning and traffic control on site. The federal and state governments must now pull themselves together and find a solution as quickly as possible.
The General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) reacted with shock and warned of a deterioration in the safety of cyclists and a standstill in the expansion of cycle path networks.
With information from Katharina Seiler, ARD capital studio
Uli Hauck, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, November 24th, 2023 5:21 p.m