Debate in Munich - New study: Half of the participants reject the city toll - "Clear the topic quickly"

Created: 2022-01-20 15:36

By: Sascha Karowski

The OVG had been dealing with the lawsuit since 2016.

© Bernd Weissbrod/dpa

The topic of city tolls for Munich remains controversial.

According to a recent survey commissioned by the automobile club Mobil in Germany, 50 percent of the 1,100 participants are against the introduction, 41 percent are in favor.

In Munich City Hall, however, there is a majority for the fee.

Munich – The congestion charge has been a hotly debated topic in Munich for years.

And it's controversial.

In September 2020, the Ifo Institute proposed a “congestion fee” of six euros for all motor vehicles within the Mittlerer Ring.

You can help to reduce individual traffic by up to a third.

Munich is the capital of traffic jams: can a city toll help?

Because there is a need for action in Munich, the Bavarian metropolis is considered the capital of traffic jams, after all, drivers had to wait 79 hours in 2021. The Regional Institute for Market Research (RIM) published a survey on the 2020 Ifo requirement. Of 705 respondents in Munich and the surrounding area, 30.4 percent were in favor of the fee, while 38.7 percent and 30.8 percent simply didn't care. The majority of city dwellers were in favor of the fee (39.6 percent), while the majority of those living in the suburbs were against it (43.5 percent). And 18.9 percent of all those surveyed stated that they would drive their car less frequently within the Mittlerer Ring after the introduction of a fee, and 13.4 percent no longer at all.

A recent survey by “puls Marktforschung GmbH” from Nuremberg, commissioned by the automobile club Mobil in Germany, shows how ambivalent the topic is.

The market researchers interviewed a total of 1,100 people from November 3rd to 8th, 60 percent from Munich, the rest from the surrounding area (up to 50 kilometers).

Result: 50 percent of all participants are against the introduction of a city toll, 41 percent were in favor of it.

Mobile in Germany boss Haberland: "The majority of Munich residents are against the introduction"

Of all respondents, 878 said they use the car often and regularly. Of this group, 56 percent were against and 37 percent were in favor of introducing a congestion charge. "The majority of people in Munich are clearly against the introduction of a congestion charge," concludes the chairman of Mobil in Germany, Michael Haberland. "And it doesn't matter whether they are from Munich, not from Munich or from the surrounding area." He thinks the results of the study should be reason enough to clear up this topic quickly and bury it for Munich.

But that probably won't happen any time soon.

There is still a majority in Munich City Hall for the introduction of a toll.

Green leader Florian Roth said his party was sticking to the idea.

"The RIM survey shows that the toll would have a steering effect if almost 20 percent fewer cars drove into the city." Entrance differentiated.

CSU boss Manuel Pretzl: "The city toll can be implemented in the future"

Meanwhile, SPD leader Christian Müller sees no need for discussion at the moment, as there is currently no legal regulation. The federal government would have to create it. All in all, "the congestion charge is still a half-baked idea, for which there are only wishes, but no real considerations or even impact studies".

The toll must be technically viable and socially acceptable,” says CSU boss Manuel Pretzl.

"We see the city toll for Munich as feasible in the future, even if the legal options are not yet available." In the future, a fee for vehicles within the Mittlerer Ring could help to protect Munich from gridlock and improve air quality improve.

"It is important to us that there are no bans for individual groups." For example, the necessary commercial and customer traffic must continue to be represented economically.