Pollution Free Cities: Assessing Sustainable Mobility in Germany

Monday, July 9, 2012

Assessing Sustainable Mobility in Germany

English: Roadsign on the Island of Juist, Germany. Juist is an island without motorized vehicles. Deutsch: Verkehrszeichen auf Juist an der Billstraße an der Backstube (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the German Federal Government with Respect to Sustainable Mobility (114 page pdf, Robert Gruber, Wuppertal Institute for Climate Environment and Energy, May 2012)

From Germany’s Wuppertal Institute comes a master’s thesis which assesses the limited success of the federal government to reduce emissions from road traffic by relying on passive measures such as awareness campaigns or a reliance on technological improvements instead of a more direct focus on traffic avoidance to shift from using cars to using transit and cycling or walking.

Key Quotes:

“instead of focusing on traffic avoidance and modal shift. The federal government tries to solve emission problems only by improving engines and technology”

“in the EU, 70.9% of the emitted CO2 in Europe comes from road vehicles..in Germany, the share of individual motorized transport is around 80%” while public transit is used for only 15% of the person kilometers..1% of the total fuel consumer in Germany is consumed during congestion”

“there are few worse things that can happen to human beings then being immobilized.. if people have the strong desire to travel, programs to lower travel demand may not e successful..not an issue of if people travel, but more of how and how far they travel..this is where technical solutions have proven to be ineffective”

“strategies for transport sustainability:

avoid..allows people to use system as usual with minimized person kilometers..proper land-use and urban planning strategies..density of cities increased..locally produced goods..shift to more sustainable transport modes
shift ..to road or rail emits a lot fewer harmful substances than private motorized vehicles
improve..vehicle efficiency..reduction of more than 50% is possible for passenger cars..increase occupancy rate..lightweight materials..decrease fuel emissions..driving behavior..reduce traffic volume”

“the competent road authority may restrict or ban vehicle traffic on certain roads or in certain areas..where such motor vehicle traffic contributes to pollution levels exceeding the emission values..in order to reduce any harmful effects on the environment callused by air pollution or prevent the formation thereof..motor vehicles with low pollutant emissions are or may be wholly or in part exempted from traffic bans” (Federal Emission Control Act, 2007)

“10% road taxation increase induces a 3-5% traffic reduction"

“in Germany there is no road taxation for passenger cars..[only for] heavy trucks using German high-speed motorways”