sustainably mobile
Transport is an area in which CO2 emissions are not falling but continue to rise. Throughout Germany, traffic accounts for 25% of emissions, in BW it is 34%, in the district of Schwäbisch Halleven 58%.
In the case of cars, the main cause of the increase is not the increase in kilometers driven, but theever larger engines.
In addition, things like poor public transport and the lack of a speed limit on motorways play a role (among the other 10 countries worldwide without a speed limit there is not a single industrialized country, Germany is thus found in community with Afghanistan, Haiti, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea and Somalia). The district is also one of the very few in which there are no stationary speed cameras and people therefore tend to drive faster than elsewhere.
Would you like to become active yourself right away?
Read the following tips on what each of us can do and what specific options we have in Hall. Take the"sustainably mobile" challengeshare and exchange ideas with other challenge participants in your group. Or chat in the forum without a challenge"sustainably mobile"with people from the area.
What can the individual do here?
The answer is complex:
1) Own mobility behavior
The most important point is the avoidance of motor vehicle traffic. Many superfluous distances are still covered: the parents' taxi to school, the car ride to the mailbox ... . Half of all car journeys are shorter than 5 km, i.e. a distance that can easily be covered by bicycle or, above all, by pedelec. By the way, we are also doing our health and fitness a big favor :).
2) Use of public transport
Public transport in the district has gotten better and better in recent years and offers many alternatives. thetimetablesis available online for download.
For BW is also the app:movesvery helpful with all timetables.
3) Acquisition of a suitable means of transport
For as long as there have been pedelecs, the bicycle has been a good means of local transport, even in hilly areas. There are also special e-cargo bikes for large purchases and the like - the so-called "cooker mule" can be borrowed free of charge from the tourist office.
Given that increasing CO2 emissions are largely due to larger engines and heavier cars (particularly SUVs), it's worth considering whether a car of this size is actually needed. An average car stands still for more than 23 hours a day and drives about 35 km in 45 minutes. If you want to save unnecessary emissions, you should choose your car as small as possible.
That's why e-cars don't solve many traffic problems either: They need the same space and are in competition with other electricity consumers when it comes to consuming (green) electricity: What's the use if all cars drove with green electricity, but industry and other electricity consumers continued to use coal electricity use, because the green electricity drives the cars. E-cars are a typical transitional or supplementary technology
Hybrid vehicles are part of the problem, not the solution: They are usually oversized (many SUVs), according to studies mostly run on petrol anyway and have to move the weight of 2 drives.
Nevertheless: if you have a car, then it should be small and electric. There are currently massivesubsidies.
4) car sharing
For many cities, an alternative is thatCar sharing: Shared cars that can be booked through an app. Up to 15,000 km/year this is considerably cheaper than your own car. Almost all second cars drive less. Car sharing is definitely worth considering. In Hall we have this for that purposePartial car Hall.
Are you interested in more?
5) Transport policy decisions
Mobility (almost) always takes place in public space. It is therefore crucial which political decisions are made. That's why it's important to take this area into account in elections, but also in political engagement: Where are there cycle paths? Is it safe to walk? Is the city center car-friendly (driveways, multi-storey car parks, parking lots) or pedestrian-friendly (car-free zones, seating, greenery, play areas, luggage storage)?
Unfortunately, car parking in Schwäbisch Hall is heavily subsidized by the public utility company. And there are still plenty of free parking spaces. The advice Verkehrswende would like to work to ensure that parking should be paid for so that it covers costs. The income from this should be used to finance attractive public transport.
The task of politics is also the general conditions of local and long-distance public transport.
As long as car traffic absorbs more than half of all transport investments, there can be no mobility turnaround. Even if increasing investments for rail and public transport are repeatedly pointed out: as long as the expenditure for road traffic is higher, this only means that the gap between car traffic and other types of traffic is opening up more slowly. However, this has nothing to do with the traffic turnaround.
Urban planning is also important: Shopping centers and industrial parks “on the green field” lead to (car) journeys that could be avoided by other urban planning.
There are a number of organizations that are committed to environmentally compatible mobility.
The following also have groups in Hall:
theGeneral German Bicycle Club (ADFC)
Contact for Hall:dieter.wolfarth@adfc-bw.de
theecological traffic club Germany (VCD)
Contact for Hall:mobilohneCO2@online.de
For Hall he has"Traffic turnaround advice", a network of various associations, compiled the most important points.
The group meets irregularly, if you would like more information or would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact:kraetzer@gmx.net .
The traffic planner Prof. Heiner Monheim shed light on the specific situation in Schwäbisch Hall at an event organized by the Ratschlag Verkehrswende in autumn 2020:
Further information
Ministry of Transport website:
https://vm.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/startseite/
Agora traffic turnaround
https://www.agora-verkehrswende.de/
Mobility turnaround BW and mobility turnaround Germany