Overtaking Day: How to reduce car traffic – Wikipedia

Since this week, Germany lives on credit: since May 4, all the resources that will be available throughout the year have been used for a sustainable lifestyle. It’s bad: if everyone lived like this, you would need three planets. However, the date of “Earth Size Day” is not surprising. For a long time, he had been moving back and forth for only a few days. The fact that progress should be sought with a magnifying glass is due not only to wasted energy consumption and a lot of factory farming, but also to the high status of the car in this country.

The ground is seldom congested as concrete as it is in the crowded streets during rush hour. It turns out that this doesn’t have to be a law of nature A study of Swedish traffic researchers. From 800 case studies in European cities, the scientists extracted twelve metrics that are particularly suitable for reducing the number of cars and therefore carbon dioxide emissions. Leading the way is cities such as London and Stockholm, which have introduced a “congestion fee” known as congestion padding. General access restrictions as in Rome or widespread abolition of parking as in Oslo also work.

The stick and the carrot

So far, Germany’s decision-makers have not been alarmed by such evidence. There is no other way to explain why politicians chose the nine-euro ticket for local public transport as their main savings tool. Classic “pull” style with the goal of making eco-friendly alternatives to the vehicle more attractive. These ‘carrot’ measures could certainly play a role in an environmentally friendly transformation of the transportation system – for example to provide targeted support to individual groups such as passengers or students. However, combining with a “push” approach that pushes road users in the right direction is more effective. This includes, for example, a parking fee even at work, as introduced by Rotterdam, or a reduction in lanes. Just stick and carrot.

A ticket priced at nine euros will please many travelers who already travel by bus and train. However, motorists are unlikely to be encouraged to switch in large numbers – especially since the ticket is limited to three months. The exact effect can then be seen on “Overtaking Day” next year. So in early May, a few days before or after that date.