Agora Compendium: Clear Consensus for Reform of the Road Traffic Regulations

For the reform of traffic law agreed upon by the federal government in the coalition agreement, the Berlin-based think tank Agora Verkehrswende has compiled the proposals of 20 organizations in an overview. By incorporating new objectives into traffic law, municipalities are to gain more decision-making freedom in shaping urban traffic—such as ordering a speed limit of 30 km/h in urban areas, prioritizing pedestrian traffic, establishing bike lanes, or managing parking spaces more effectively, according to the authors' argument. Most proposals, according to Agora Verkehrswende's assessment, generally move in the same direction and can be well aligned, even though they delve into details at different points.

"As large as the number of proposals has become, science and civil society are united regarding the design of a fundamental reform of traffic law. The federal government should now resolutely tackle the announced reform together with the federal states. The postponement of the immediate climate protection program should not impair the reform. More and more municipalities are waiting to make urban spaces more livable and just today rather than tomorrow. Therefore, the federal government must finally fulfill its promise. Any further delay causes misunderstanding," urges Christian Hochfeld, Director of Agora Verkehrswende.

New Objectives: Safety, Climate Protection, Sustainable Urban Development

The crux of the reform, according to many experts, is the timely expansion of the overarching objectives of traffic law. Previously, the "ease" and "fluidity" of traffic on public roads had top priority. In practice, this has led to significant disadvantages for people traveling on foot, by bike, or by public transport compared to car traffic. According to Agora Verkehrswende's conclusion, the ease of traffic has, due to the narrow legal framework and the generally accepted model of a car-friendly city, primarily been interpreted as the ease of motorized individual traffic.

Priority Over Flowing Car Traffic

The objectives that should guide actions in the future, ahead of the ease of car traffic, primarily include the safety of all road users, health, environmental and climate protection, and sustainable urban development. To give municipalities more leeway to pursue these objectives, the justification and proof obligations for interventions in traffic should also be relaxed. For parking management, for example, a reversal of the signage obligation would make sense so that only areas where free parking is still allowed need to be designated. A broadly defined innovation clause should also make it easier for municipalities to test new traffic regulations.

Shaping Traffic Transformation Locally

To implement the reform, the federal government and the Bundestag must first incorporate the expanded overarching objectives into the Road Traffic Act (StVG). Subsequently, passages in the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) relevant to achieving these objectives, and associated administrative regulations, must be revised. This mainly lies in the hands of the Federal Ministry of Transport and the federal states.

"With our paper, we want to support the dialogue on a swift reform of traffic law. For the mobility transformation on the ground, a modernized traffic law is of crucial importance. With the reform as a basis, cities and municipalities can finally more easily reduce the imbalance that has grown over decades in traffic, strengthen bus, rail, bike, and pedestrian traffic, and make public spaces more attractive for everyone. This would also meet the growing demands in urban societies. Therefore, the federal and state governments should more strongly consider the interests of municipalities in their negotiations," explains Janna Aljets, Project Manager for Urban Mobility at Agora Verkehrswende.

Proposals from the following organizations were considered (in alphabetical order): Ad-hoc AG Foot Traffic Policy of the Conference of Transport Ministers, Agora Verkehrswende, General German Bicycle Club e. V., Federal Association of CarSharing e. V., Federal Association for Physically and Multiple Disabled People e.V., Federal Association of Parcel & Express Logistics e. V., Federal Association of Local Authority Associations, Alliance for Socially Acceptable Mobility Transition, German Association of Cities, German Association of Towns and Municipalities, German Traffic Safety Council, Fuss e. V., National Platform Future of Mobility – AG1 "Climate Protection in Traffic," Cargo Bike Logistics Association Germany e. V., Advisory Council on the Environment, Climate Neutrality Foundation, Social Association VdK Germany e. V., Federal Environment Agency, Association of German Transport Companies e. V., Transport Club Germany e. V.