Germany to give cities greater leeway in regulating road traffic

Germany's government cabinet has approved a draft law that would give cities and municipalities a greater say in regulating road traffic, particularly when it comes to bus lanes, bicycle paths, and local speed limits. While the cabinet’s proposed Road Traffic Act would provide local authorities more decision-making power, it is not, according to transport minister Volker Wissing (FDP), a carte blanche to reduce inner city speed limits to 30 kilometres an hour – a goal championed by many environmentalists. Indeed, in presenting the legislation, Wissing described such speed limits as a "restriction of freedom" for which authorities would have to provide “mandatory” justification in the future, according to a Table.Media report. But the draft allows "the improvement of environmental protection, including climate protection" and "the protection of health" as permissible justifications in future.

Transport and environmental organizations have been calling for a modernization of the country’s road traffic laws for some time, arguing that local communities should be able to make their own traffic rules with a view to improving local residents' quality of life and cutting transport emissions. In their coalition agreement, Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) agreed that future road traffic law should take into account the goals of climate and environmental protection, health and urban development, in addition to smooth and safe traffic, which is the focus of current legislation. Christian Hochfeld, head of the Agora Verkehrswende mobility transition thinktank, said last week that the reform provided the basis for mobility improvements and more liveable cities, adding that hundreds of cities and communities throughout Germany had been waiting for this modernization.