Category Archives: Citizens Initiative

Platz Da! Parliament Agrees Compromise

Platz Da! (There’s Space!) Bremen has collected 6,000 signatures in the Hanseatic city and held endless debates with politicians to make more space in Bremen for all people. Platz da! has fought for state-wide parking management, for the abolition of  parking on footpaths and cycle paths, for a proper enforcement of parking bans and for a transport transition in the city. The “comprehensive” aspect of their proposals was turned down by the ruling coalition, principally by the Social Democrats, but at least parking management is to be introduced in some districts – Mitte, Östliche Vorstadt, Schwachhausen, Findorff, Walle and Neustadt. It has been a long battle, but on 17 November 2020 parliament agreed the compromise. As an admonition and reminder for the members of parliament, the activists came to the Bürgerschaft…

Einfach Einsteigen: A Public Transport Revolution?

The climate crisis and need for a transformation to a sustainable traffic and transport system demand feasible concepts. The initiative “Einfach Einsteigen” (not exactly translateable, but close to Simply Enter; Get on (board)/hop on) has developed a calculated concept for financing the expansion and operation of Bremen’s local transport system. A role model for other cities as well?

Here is some background information on “Einfach Einsteigen” (hereafter abbreviated as “we”) financing concept for local transport as well as its assessment by the Bremen Senate. If the concept is implemented, the initiative claims, local transport in Bremen can be operated without tickets as well as comprehensively expanded.(Note:  this is operating  under  German  law) Continue reading Einfach Einsteigen: A Public Transport Revolution? →

We need your opinion here in Bremen

As the summer holidays hit in,  transport senator Maike Schaefer is seeking the public’s  opinion and expertise regarding two major projects:

The VEP 2025 (Verkehrsentwicklungsplan = traffic development plan)

and the remake of a main road, Friedrich-Ebert-Straße in the Neustadt.

To make your life easier, a citizens’ initiative has already developed some helpful ideas. Have a look into their brochure.

As you can see in the poster above, both projects have tight deadlines for your ideas to be submitted: The VEP participation ends at the 2nd of August, and your ideas for the Friedrich-Ebert-Straße need to be handed in by the 31st of July.

Foot traffic check in Bremen

At present, the share of foot traffic in Bremen is at its lowest level (21%), less is not possible. And this is because the conditions for foot traffic in Bremen are very poor.


This is ridiculous

In order to draw attention to the numerous shortcomings to which everyone has become accustomed, the FUSS e.V. Bremen local group has carried out a foot traffic check in a district near the city centre, in the Neustadt.

The “discovered” deficiencies can be found everywhere in the city, and only 12 typical deficiencies were discussed during the foot traffic check. It is important for FUSS e.V. to create a general awareness of the fact that the mobility areas for people on foot or in wheelchairs are systematically poor or unusable and that there is an urgent need for action. Continue reading Foot traffic check in Bremen →

Parking Day: Or how to civilise a traffic hell  

The Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse in the Neustadt district of Bremen is heavily congested, or better said: a four-lane traffic hell.  People who live on this road are exposed to unbearable levels of noise and air pollution every day. Because this road – 30 m wide, then 60 m wide before it turns into the Wilhelm-Kaisen-Bridge – offers generous space for motorized traffic. Pedestrians and cyclists, on the other hand, have to share the narrow (4 m) sidewalk, and can hardly ever cross the road safely.


Not much space for everyday cyclists, Foto: Wolfgang Köhler-Naumann

Should this be the case? Is this appropriate for a modern urban environment?

We believe it is not. We wanted to show that there is another way to organize public space. Continue reading Parking Day: Or how to civilise a traffic hell   →

Campact Aufruf der Ini “Einfach Einsteigen”

Hier auch mal ein Aufruf:

“Einfach Einsteigen” hat auf der Campact-Plattform eine Petition
gestartet:

https://weact.campact.de/p/einfacheinsteigen

Neben den Kernforderungen zum Nahverkehr denkt die Ini auch an den Umweltverbund als Ganzes und hat daher folgende Forderung mitaufgenommen:

* Forcieren Sie gleichzeitig Maßnahmen zur Förderung des Rad- und
Fußverkehrs, damit der Umweltverbund insgesamt attraktiv, schnell und
sicher wird.

Ihr könnt jetzt unterschreiben!!!

Camp 2021 – German City Campaigns Get Networked

Following the success of Volksentscheid Fahrrad in Berlin, which now commits Germany’s capital city to a 600 million euro programme of transformation of its cycling infrastructure, a number of its key activists have helped establish Changing Cities. This new organisation draws together cycling activists from across Germany to fight for a nationwide transport transition. Focussing on city campaigns, the organisation sent out invitations for an initial meeting in January 2019 More than ten different cities accepted, resulting in a meeting in Kassel – marking the start for coordinated and cooperative work to influence Germany’s national elections in 2021.


Camp2021 – City campaign representatives at Kassel kick-off, Januar 2019

It was easy for the participants to find common ground and values: at the centre must lie the support for cycling through the construction of appropriate infrastructure and adaptation of public space. We, the participants and representatives of local campaigns, had little doubt: infrastructure must be safe and feel safe – cycling must be (made) comfortable. This would open up cycling as a real possibility to all, from a 4 year old to the 104 year-old senior. All people should feel enabled to participate in public sphere. Here are our reasons: Continue reading Camp 2021 – German City Campaigns Get Networked →

“Platz Da!” Moves Up A Gear

The “Platz Da!” initiative has officially launched, as reported in the Weserkurier and on the telly.

“Platz Da! Bremen “is involving a growing number of Bremen citizens who are working together for a better cycling and walking infrastructure, and a comprehensive parking management system for the city. The campaign’s key demand is that the streets belong to all of us, not just the owners of parked cars, and is working with the Transport Transition Alliance , launched in January 2018 with a call for a city-wide management of car parking, and a genuine strategy for reducing space used by parked vehicles.

Continue reading “Platz Da!” Moves Up A Gear →

Berlin Citizens Initiative for Cycling – from Grassroots Movement to Mobility Act

On June 28th 2018 Berlin’s Parliament signed a new Mobility Act into effect. This was the final point of a more than two and a half-year long campaign by the Initiative Citizens Referendum for Cycling in Berlin and their umbrella organization Changing Cities.


Sit-in of Citizens’ Cycling Referendum in Berlin-Kreuzberg, 22.10.2017 

Continue reading Berlin Citizens Initiative for Cycling – from Grassroots Movement to Mobility Act →

Kids or Cars?

The hilarious everyday experience of transport campaigns in Bremen (an extract)

– Temporary play street: Turned down

– Application for cycle stands and bollards on pavements to keep the street entrance clear for emergency vehicles: Turned down– Illegal parking on the pavement: Silently tolerated by the authorities

– Application for residents’ parking: Under discussion

– Special slow zone (Begegnungszone) in front of the elementary school: Application coming up, because existing bans on parking are ignored

Continue reading Kids or Cars? →