Hermann defies austerity appeals: more money for the traffic turnaround
Created: 05/09/2022, 15:52
Winfried Hermann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Minister of Transport of Baden-Württemberg.
© Bernd Weissbrod/dpa
Transport Minister Winfried Hermann is pushing for an even faster implementation of the expensive traffic turnaround in the country, despite the austerity appeal by the coalition leaders.
In order to accelerate the switch from cars to buses and trains, you have to invest significantly more in infrastructure and vehicles, said the Green Party on Monday in Stuttgart.
He therefore wanted to remind the heads of the coalition:
Stuttgart - "The coalition agreement consists not only of savings, but also of investments."
He wants to stick to the goal of doubling the number of passengers in public transport by 2030 compared to 2010.
"From a climate point of view, you have to tighten up," said Hermann.
Otherwise it will not be possible to make Baden-Württemberg climate-neutral by 2040.
If you want people to leave their cars at home, you need a good public transport system and good connections to rural areas.
"We need a lot more money.
I'm not giving in to that either."
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The parliamentary group leaders of the Greens and CDU, Andreas Schwarz and Manuel Hagel, had recently warned the government against large spending requests for the next double budget.
It is foreseeable that the economic consequences of the Ukraine war would have a strong impact on the economy and tax revenue.
"I advise clear restraint in the budget deliberations," said Schwarz.
Hagel warned: "We're not making a wish now." Anyone who wants one euro more from the ministers at the budget deliberations must have the ambition to say where two euros can be saved.
"Whoever says what he wants must also say what can go."
Hermann said that this principle does not work in his experience.
"That would work if an old task were eliminated." As a rule, however, new tasks are constantly being added to the old ones.
The government still has a lot to do to double the number of passengers.
Based on the latest figures from the State Statistical Office, the transport performance in Baden-Württemberg was around 8.6 billion passenger kilometers in 2010 and around 9.4 billion passenger kilometers in 2019.
dpa