Post · Kakapo Social

‘The car belongs in Berlin’

»Car-critical measures have been slashed since the conservative CDU came into power in 2023 …

Experts note #Berlin does have a low ratio of cars per person, extensive but woefully underfunded public transport and a chaotic network of bicycle lanes …

As cities like #Paris, #Amsterdam and #Copenhagen embrace increasingly climate-, bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly policies, critics say Berlin is zooming full-throttle in reverse.«

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/13/berlin-bicycle-and-pedestrian-car-friendly-transport

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#A100

the Guardian

‘The car belongs in Berlin’: city backpedaling on bike-friendly policies, critics say

Car-critical measures have been slashed since the conservative CDU came into power in 2023, triggering protests and dividing communities

Sepia Fan

@stekopf@mstdn.social replied · 2 days ago

»A CDU transport expert, Johannes Kraft, counters that the pendulum has swung too far away from motorists, noting the city’s roads and bridges are in desperate need of repair.¹

Because Berlin’s sprawling city limits encompass large swaths of what would be suburbs in other capitals, voters on the urban fringes, who are particularly attached to their vehicles, cast ballots with a vengeance. For many older Berliners and easterners …, cars remain a symbol of independence, freedom and status.²«

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Sepia Fan

@stekopf@mstdn.social replied · 2 days ago

¹ For me, this crumbling infrastructure demonstrates the destructive power of car traffic. Many of the crumbling bridges were built to withstand much less load than they are exposed today. Berlin cannot afford to renovate this infrastructure to its today's capacity.

² This probably describes the causes well, because the car-friendly policy was voted for in the outlying districts. And in addition to older and easterners, I believe that too many migrants also view the car as a status symbol.

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