Hessen: moving away from the car-friendly city

The alliance

For the referendum at least 45,000 valid signatures must be collected. Start is in spring.

The initiators are the regional associations of the Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) and the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC), the Fachverband Fußverkehr Deutschland Fuß eV, and the Radentscheide Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Kassel.

Collaborated have representatives of the non-governmental organizations Pro Bahn, Pro Bahn & Bus, the Friends of Nature, the Bund Umwelt und Naturschutz (BUND), Greenpeace and Changing Cities.

The homepage is under construction: www.verkehrswende-hessen.de.

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The aim is to “change the model split”, says VCD managing director Heiko Nickel: an equivalence of all modes of transport in Hesse. “Less car traffic, more traffic avoidance.” An environmentally friendly, socially acceptable, climate-neutral and completely barrier-free mobility. Minimum standards for local public transport and “clear guidelines” for cycling are further important elements.

The referendum at the state level is a consequence of the experiences with the municipal cycling decisions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Kassel. Although they all failed, they have led to significant improvements in cities. But in the negotiations it has been shown time and again that local politicians are often hands tied. Often the state is responsible by law, sometimes Berlin too. That is why the VCD is currently also committed to a “Federal Mobility Act”. It should be presented in Berlin before the summer break.

An eventful year for friends of the traffic transition in Hessen. Activities are running in parallel on three levels – federal, state and municipal. This also includes the current cycling decisions in Offenbach and Fulda. “The time is ripe,” says Nickel. The car-friendly city from the 1970s no longer meets the requirements. The number of 3,000 accidental deaths and 400,000 injuries nationwide per year is unacceptable. No one should be harmed in traffic, said Katalin Saary from the German Pedestrian Association. “Vision Zero is also the subject of our country strategy.” The turnaround in traffic means that “old white men” have to give something in favor of children. “Often they are only concerned with convenience.” Bringing about change is no walk in the park. “It’s a tough discussion.”

The subsequent discussion shows that headwinds can be expected. The failed referendum on the city railway in Wiesbaden is still in the bones of many. With disruptive maneuvers and “fake news”, the opponents had talked the project badly, said a VCD member who had been involved in a citizens’ initiative for the Stadtbahn to Mainz. Xavier Marc from the ADFC swore the participants of the video event to an intense year. Success is not an automatism, it has to be persuasive. “It will depend on the campaign.”

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