Under a threat of sanctions from the European Union for poor air quality, Germany announced that it plans to test free public transport in five of its most polluted cities. Bonn, Mannheim, Reutlingen, Herrenberg (located south of Stuttgart) and Essen, highly industrialized cities, are the five that will be part of the project. The proposal will be tested by the end of 2018.
The measure includes, among others, a recent letter sent to Brussels to the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Karmenu Vella, by several members of the Government headed by Angela Merkel.
Germany is thus trying to elope sanctions that the European Union could apply because the amount of pollutant emissions in the cities has not been reduced.
The German media has promptly questioned the signatories of the letter, the Environment Minister, Barbara Hendricks, the Agriculture Minister, Christian Schmidt and the Chief of Staff of the German Chancellery, Peter Altmaier about how they will subsidize a complete free public transport system.
The Berlin government thus tries to encourage people to give up private cars use, thus reducing the level of nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants.
The letter sent to the European Commissioner also suggested setting “low emission areas” for large transport vehicles, increasing the number of electric motor taxis and introducing incentives for electric cars in general, Deutsche Welle informs.
However, the German officials’ letter surprised the German municipalities, including those selected for free public transport testing. Asked about the details of the measures on free public transport, a spokesperson for Bonn Municipality said there are not many ideas to elaborate.
„We are not yet in the planning phase,” the spokesperson said, adding that there was no data on the launch of the project or about how many funds would be allocated by the Federal Government for the possibility of subsidizing a free public transport.
The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) said the German government plans are „critical”, especially when it comes to costs.
According to VDV, almost half of the money coming into the budgets of German public transport companies comes from the sale of tickets – about EUR 12 billion euros annually. „Finally, taxpayers will have to fund these measures,” VDV added.
The Brussels Executive has, however, offered Germany and other eight EU member states a final chance to come forward with proposals to reduce vehicle emissions and comply with EU air quality standards, as Deutsche Welle informes.
Regarding Germany, if the EU Environment Commissioner is not content with the Berlin proposals, he can file a complaint to the European Court of Justice.
Currently, the only city worldwide with free public transport is Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Since the beginning of 2013, the use of all means of public transport is free for residents, only tourists have to buy their travel tickeys. The measure was implemented following a referendum and, since then, polls show broad support from the population. One year after the free service was established, the total number of passengers transported has already increased by 14%, while private car use has continued to decline since then.
Tallinn has a population of only 450,000, so the extent of subsidizing a free public transport system was not a difficult one for Estonia.
For Germany, the measure does not seem to be an impediment either, and the subsidy could be viable because Bonn has a population of 300,000, Mannheim has 305,000 inhabitants, in Reutlingen the population is 110,000, in Herrenberg there are just over 31,000 inhabitants, while Essen has a population of about 600,000.
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