Good news from Berlin, it seems. The Berlin Senate published the City Transport Development Plan [Stadtentwicklungsplan Verkehr] last Friday and, by 2025, it aims to: - Increase cycling’s modal split from 13% to 18% - Increase public transport’s share from 27% to 29%
- Decrease car traffic from 32% to 25%
Parking fees will rise drastically but public transport ticket prices will rise only modestly, in order to encourage people to leave the cars at home.To promote more cycling the plan will involve rebuilding roads to provide more infrastructure for bicycles. There is also talk of a bike share programme to compete with the Deutsche Bahn's Call-a-Bike system.
It seems that the demotorization of western societies continues. The number of 18-24 year olds who own a car has fallen to 16% from 24%. This may because of unemployment, but it mirrors a tendency in other countries like Japan and the States.
Here's the article from Der Tagesspiegel.
