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Expert paper: "Eight Maxims for Better Mobility"

A prominent group of economists and former car executives is presenting a thesis paper advocating for better mobility ahead of the federal election and calling for a move away from car fixation.

Human in the spotlight: A panel of experts and car managers is calling on the next federal government for a different mobility policy, moving away from cars towards multimodal and app-based services and sharing. | Photo: Siemens
Human in the spotlight: A panel of experts and car managers is calling on the next federal government for a different mobility policy, moving away from cars towards multimodal and app-based services and sharing. | Photo: Siemens
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Johannes Reichel

A group of economists and former automotive managers has now presented a thesis paper for a "mobility transition." Under the title "Eight Maxims for Better Mobility," scientists led by Kirstin Kegner from the Digital Hub Mobility at the Technical University of Munich are calling for a move away from car-centric transportation towards multimodal and environmentally friendly means of transport. "At the heart of new mobility" must be the guiding principle, "to transport people and goods multimodally: quickly, easily, safely, affordably, CO2-neutrally, and without unnecessary transfers," demand the authors, including former VW managers Jürgen Stackmann and Johann Jungwirth, who is now working on robo-taxis for Intel subsidiary Mobileye.

All modes of transportation must always be taken into account, from walking and cycling to cars, buses, and trains. Apps are available for implementation but need to be structured regionally rather than in isolation. Municipalities should initiate a different urban planning approach, moving away from cars that have dominated the last hundred years.

"Now, people should finally reclaim this space," says the paper.

This would enable car-free zones, swift transit, and recreational activities on former streets. This can also work in established cities, the authors believe, referencing Copenhagen and Paris. They call for the upcoming federal government to finance model cities in Germany, and municipalities should, in turn, change their framework, reassign parking spaces to bike lanes, and significantly increase parking fees. Additionally, the experts advocate for the principle of "using instead of owning," promoting car-sharing, higher utilization of private cars, and strengthening public transport. The latter should also become significantly cheaper. With a higher utilization of two instead of the current average of 1.5 persons per car, ten million vehicles could be saved in Germany, the mobility experts calculate. 

Translated automatically from German.
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