Kassel traffic expert in favor of car toll

As part of the public hearing on the topic of "Future models for financing and organizing local public transport", Prof. Sommer will present a series of proposals to members of the Bundestag. "The way local public transport has been financed to date has led to a significant loss of substance in the local public transport infrastructure," explains Prof. Sommer. In order to achieve climate and environmental policy goals, a massive expansion of public transport services is also required.

In his view, a change of course is therefore urgently needed: "Fares for local public transport have risen disproportionately in recent years," says Prof. Sommer. "At the same time, large sums of money will be needed to maintain and expand public transport, which cannot be borne by public transport users alone," he explains.

Prof. Sommer therefore argues that not only the direct users of buses and trains should be involved in the future financing of public transport, but also people and institutions that benefit indirectly from the provision of public transport. "Ultimately, car drivers also benefit when more people travel by public transport because there is less traffic on the roads. And employers with good public transport connections have to provide fewer parking spaces - that is also a tangible benefit," says Prof. Sommer.

He therefore calls for the beneficiaries of public transport to share more of the costs. "There are already some successful international examples of this, such as the local transport levy in France, the employer levy in Vienna or a so-called traffic generation levy for institutions that generate vehicle traffic in England." In this context, Prof. Sommer also considers the much-discussed car toll to be useful: "A car toll can be a helpful instrument to compensate for the problem of a lack of funds for local transport - ideally, it should be applied to the entire road network."

Link to the statement : https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/816350/a0cc03ffdc87a8f8c6b2731b5bb30f7d/19-15-442-B-data.pdf

Contact

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carsten Sommer
University of Kassel // Department of Transport Planning and Transport Systems

Mönchebergstraße 7
D-34125 Kassel

Phone: +49(0)561/804-3381
E-mail: c.sommer@uni-kassel.de
Internet: http://www.uni-kassel.de/go/vpvs