“Linz needs a mobility turnaround with a traffic mix”

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A week ago, the new Linz ÖVP chairman Martin Hajart was sworn in by LH Thomas Stelzer as vice mayor of the state capital.

On Wednesday, together with ÖVP city councilor Doris Lang-Mayerhofer and club chairwoman Elisabeth Manhal, he presented the first results of a city party retreat. “The talks and discussions brought me a lot of good input. With labor shortages, mobility, the effects of corona and affordable housing, we have identified those topics that we will focus on in our deliberations and work for positive development in our hometown,” explained Hajart.

“We will now successively develop proposals, new approaches and solutions and introduce them into Linz’s city politics.”

Mobility

“Limited space is available for all forms of mobility in Linz. An expansion is often not possible for reasons of space, which means that the space has to be divided between motorized individual traffic, public transport, cyclists and pedestrians,” says traffic officer Hajart.

By strengthening soft mobility, he wants to achieve a turning point in Linz using the traffic mix. “Here I would like to set a good example myself and cover my trips by bike wherever possible,” says Hajart. As a signal for environmentally friendly mobility, the Linz People’s Party is now launching the “Rad.Werk.Stadt” campaign — dates at linzervolkspartei.at — where a free bike check is offered. There is also a reflective tape.

labor shortage

In Linz alone, 6000 job vacancies have been registered with the AMS. “In order to make progress on the issue of labor shortages, measures are needed at every political level,” explains StR Lang-Mayerhofer. For example, of the 6,000 unemployed in Linz, 60 percent only have a compulsory education. You have to counter this with investments in basic education.

Corona effects

“Corona makes you listless and paralyzes activities,” Manhal analyzes the status quo. “The dramatic increase in obesity among elementary school children is a particularly alarming impact of the pandemic. We have to counteract this worrying development,” Manhal refers to two ÖVP ideas. The Linz Club Days and the Platform.Sport should focus on voluntary work and exercise offers.

Affordable housing

Inflation affects everyone. “We are clearly committed to the fact that people must continue to be able to afford heating, electricity or fuel for their daily commute to work,” says Hajart. As an approach to affordable living, he cites shared spaces — fitness, workshops, office space, party cellars — in urban housing.

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