Status: 11.11.2023, 15:00 PM
By: Gabi Zierz
CommentsShare
Bicycles – with and without electric motors – are used in Erding, here with Mayor Max Götz with a cargo bike, District Administrator Martin Bayerstorfer and Taufkirchen's Mayor Stefan Haberl (from left) during city cycling. © Archive photo: ham
The Bund Naturschutz praises the redesign plans with tree planting for the old town of Erdingen. The city is also continuing to promote cargo bikes.
Erding – Erding's old town is to become greener. This was recently decided by the city council for Schrannenplatz and the forecourt of the Sparkasse, which will be redesigned as Friedrich-Fischer-Platz. In addition to trees, water features and seating are to be built there. Some business people are critical of this development, as it is associated with the elimination of parking spaces. The Bund Naturschutz, on the other hand, welcomes the plans and thinks: "A good start." This was announced by the local and district group of the BN in a statement.
"This is a very pleasing step towards a city centre in which the focus is on people and people also enjoy spending time in the summers that will be shaped by climate change in the future," is the comment of BN district chairwoman Gabriele Betzmeir on the reports on the decision of the urban development committee. She was particularly pleased that it had been possible to "push back the manslaughter argument of parking spaces for this decision".
The particularly positive effects of sufficiently large trees, which create shade and evaporative cooling, could also have an effect in the Lange Zeile if more or different trees were planted there. "That's why we want to explicitly encourage those responsible here that the process must go much further and not be limited to the city center," says BN district manager Sabine Lanzner.
However, she and Betzmeir point out that the animation images that have been shown so far do not show bicycle parking spaces, which were previously available in large numbers and very well utilized. "If pedestrians now have to be annoyed by wildly parked bicycles under trees and on the benches, this is certainly not conducive to interacting with each other," says Lanzner.
Therefore, when planning such green islands in cities, it should be ensured that there are sufficient covered bicycle parking spaces - and possibly also locations where you can rent a bicycle or cargo bike, according to the BN.
As far as cargo bikes are concerned, the city had launched a subsidy program totaling 20,000 euros this year, which was very well received. In this way, the municipality supported the new purchase with 350 to 1000 euros. 22 funding applications were received by the town hall. So far, 15 of them have been subsidised: eleven cargo pedelecs with electric drive and four cargo trailers. Six applications are still being processed, as Jürgen Freudenthaler reported to the city councillors in the urban development committee. Most cargo bikes are used by families with young children, but one is also used for commercial purposes.
Freudenthaler, an employee in urban development, also evaluated that most of the applicants were between 30 and 45 years old, the youngest 29 and the oldest 57 years old. For this year, almost 1800 euros in funding are still available. In 2024, the city wants to continue the program, again with 20,000 euros.
And as far as rental bikes are concerned, things are also moving forward in Erding. The city has now at least officially expressed its interest in participating in the Munich transport company's rental bike system, which is to be extended to the MVV area. This could not be implemented until 2026 at the earliest. For Erding, 85 to 120 bicycles, 20 percent of which are pedelecs, are conceivable at 9 to 14 stations.