Status: 13.10.2023, 18:00 PM
By: Patrick Freiwah
CommentsShare
Car traffic in cities like Munich is often nerve-wracking and time-consuming. A mobility study comes to a conclusion that many may not like.
Munich – Munich and car traffic can be described as a love-hate relationship: On the one hand, the motorized means of transport has a special place in many people's hearts. On the other hand, moving forward is sometimes time-consuming and nerve-wracking. As the population grows in the strong economic region, so does the number of cars on Munich's roads. This can be a stress test not only for users of alternative forms of mobility such as cyclists or pedestrians, but also for car drivers: congested roads and an extensive search for a parking space are often part of everyday life.
Cars clog the traffic in Munich - Many don't need it at all
A study by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) comes to a thesis that could cause displeasure among many people: A large proportion of them do not actually need a car, but nevertheless constantly contribute to overcrowded Munich streets. The study was conducted in 2020, before the Corona pandemic was expected to drastically reduce road traffic for an extended period of time. In cooperation with BMW, KIT also examined traffic in metropolises such as Berlin, San Francisco (USA), and Shanghai (China).
For one week, the researchers analysed the mobility behaviour of Munich residents using a "mobility skeleton": It shows how complex the people of Munich move, what needs play a role in this and whether it is a matter of commuting for work, private life or car use over long distances. The study concludes that the car is by no means always used by the people of Munich from a rational point of view.
Traffic jams during rush hour: an all-too-familiar sight for many drivers in Munich. © IMAGO/Wolfgang Maria Weber
Munich: A group of motorists would benefit from less traffic
The evaluation of the data and answers provides clues as to how much the owners of a car actually depend on it. This shows that about a third of people do not actually need the car. Meanwhile, the figure is similar the other way around: At around 27 percent, really convinced car users also represent almost a third - i.e. those people who use the car often and with pleasure in everyday life. It doesn't take much imagination to guess that the numerous brand fans of classic manufacturers such as BMW are also included here.
It is also this group of people who would benefit most from less congested traffic routes if the car is generally only used when it is really needed. Frank Hansen, responsible for sustainable mobility at the BMW Group, is quoted by the Abendzeitung: "Owning a vehicle remains an indispensable part of mobility for many people, but it is also about understanding and meeting the different mobility needs of people in a livable city."
A spokesperson for the Karlsruhe institute told IPPEN. MEDIA, that the volume of traffic in Munich is similar to that before after the pandemic. It seems unclear to what extent professional commuting has changed as a result of increasing home office activities in Munich. The narrator explains to us that there are "more and more cars" in Munich and that older used cars in particular remain on the market for a long time.
0
Read also
New pension offer for all insured persons: But hardly anyone uses it
READ
Pensioners are entitled to extra money – but don't know it
READ
BYD is not afraid of EU punitive tariffs - another carmaker would be most affected
READ
But no combustion engine phase-out? This car is now competing with electric
READ
One insolvency after the next: Wave of bankruptcies rolls through Germany
READ
Fancy a voyage of discovery?
My Area
Mobility: Driving more popular with Munich residents than in other cities
In fact, however, the researchers of the KIT Institute in Munich made an observation that differs from other large cities: For many people, the car represents a kind of symbol of freedom and its use is often limited to leisure time and weekends. There is a relatively wealthy population in Bavaria's largest city, so many people would not want to do without the car. "In metropolises such as Berlin or San Francisco, the number of cars is lower and less pronounced," explains the expert from the Technical University of Karlsruhe. Accordingly, offers such as car sharing or the like are less in demand in Munich than elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the sensitivity of the issue of cars in cities like Munich is shown by an initiative that was abandoned prematurely: The conversion of road surfaces into green verges and footpaths into two streets in the Bavarian capital ends prematurely after a settlement in court. Munich will "restore the affected traffic routes to their original state" by October 25, according to a spokesman for the administrative court.
Originally, the so-called "summer roads" project (since mid-June) was supposed to run until October 31, according to the German Press Agency (dpa). However, several residents had apparently complained against the temporary conversion of two roads to calm traffic. (PF)