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More Speed with 30 km/h Zones: 100 Cities Apply Pressure

Already 100 municipalities have joined the "Livable Cities" initiative. Together with Agora Verkehrswende, they are demanding more municipal decision-making power and a change in the Road Traffic Regulations from the government. The majority are governed by the Union.

Slow down - and reduce consumption: Tempo 30 helps with climate protection, safety - and greater energy autonomy. | Photo: AdobeStock
Slow down - and reduce consumption: Tempo 30 helps with climate protection, safety - and greater energy autonomy. | Photo: AdobeStock
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Johannes Reichel

With the Lower Rhine city of Moers, now the hundredth municipality has joined the nationwide initiative "Livable Cities through Appropriate Speeds." Across all party lines, cities and municipalities are calling on the federal government, and specifically the FDP-led Ministry of Transport, to grant municipalities more leeway in setting a maximum speed limit of 30 km/h in urban areas. The initiative was launched in July 2021 by the cities of Aachen, Augsburg, Freiburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Münster, and Ulm.

"The rapid growth of the initiative and its cross-party character demonstrate the urgency of the concern and its professional background – this is about quality of life in our cities and not about traffic policy ideology,” explains Thomas Dienberg, Mayor of Construction of the City of Leipzig and spokesperson for the initiative.

Frauke Burgdorff, City Construction Director of the City of Aachen and also spokesperson for the city initiative, emphasizes that lower speeds such as 30 km/h could make a significant contribution to achieving "urban planning, traffic, and environmental goals in the interest of a livable city."

However, changes in road traffic law are necessary for this. The current law sets strict limits for the municipalities. It only allows the designation of speed limits if concrete dangers can be proven – and only for specific road sections. In the coalition agreement of the traffic light coalition, the initiative sees an approach to change the legal framework. Accordingly, the federal government wants to adapt the Road Traffic Act and the Road Traffic Regulations so that "in addition to the fluidity and safety of traffic, the goals of climate and environmental protection, health, and urban development are taken into account, in order to open up decision-making options for countries and municipalities."

"Cities and towns can best assess the situation on the ground. Many are ready to tackle the traffic transition. It is now up to the federal government to give them more freedom for this," argued Christian Hochfeld, director of the think tank Agora Verkehrswende, who sees the initiative as a strong signal for the design will of the municipalities.

Translated automatically from German.
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