BERLIN (AP) — Germany, home to the Autobahn and a powerful motor industry, wants its citizens to spend less time driving and more time cycling to help save the planet.
The government on Wednesday agreed a new national cycling strategy to boost bike use and safety by 2030.
The plan, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said, would “make Germany a bicycle country.”
It aims to increase the average number of bike journeys each German makes by half — from 120 a year at present to 180 in ten years time. Compared to driving, this would result in greenhouse gas emissions savings equivalent to 3-4 million tons of carbon dioxide, government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said.
Concerns about climate change have figured large in the polls in recent years, boosting Germany’s Greens, who were for the first time leading an opinion survey this week asking who people would vote for in September’s national election.
To make cycling more attractive, officials want to expand the number of “cycling highways” in the country, create more dedicated bike lanes and parking facilities, and factor in the needs of the growing number of cargo bike users.
The plan also hopes to cut the number of cyclists killed on German roads by 40% in the coming decade compared to 2019, when 445 bike users died in traffic accidents.
The federal government wants to spend almost 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) on the cycling plan in the coming two years.
The hobby horse, a precursor to the modern bicycle, was invented by German aristocrat Karl von Drais some 200 years ago.
Some 5 million bicycles were sold in Germany last year, compared with slightly under 3 million cars.
Full story via Associated Press
- Arctic tundra now emits planet-warming pollution, federal report findsArctic tundra, which has stored carbon for thousands of years, has now become a source of planet-warming pollution.
- Bumblebee population increases 116 times over in ‘remarkable’ Scotland rewilding project‘The sound of traffic and a uniform sea of barley have been replaced by the most beautiful meadows, full of wildflowers, young saplings and the buzz of bees’
- Barbados Completes World’s First ‘Debt-for-Climate’ SwapBarbados has secured the world’s first “debt-for-climate” swap to finance crucial water and sewage projects that will help the island cope with the destructive impacts of climate change.
- Killer whales have found new homes in the Arctic Ocean, potentially reshaping marine ecologyThe vast ice sheets that historically kept killer whales out of the Arctic Ocean are melting as the region rapidly warms.
- Pollution in Delhi hits record high, cloaking city in smogIndia’s capital, Delhi, imposes emergency measures including closing schools and offices and barring heavy vehicles.
