An open letter to the new transport minister

So, Germany has a new transport minister... maybe. But some people are a bit worried that his policies aren't what they're hoping for. So I thought I'd write him a letter.

Chapters:
00:00 Dear Dr Wissing
00:34 The political situation
01:30 A difficult position
03:00 The quality of life
04:15 Fewer cars = nicer roads
06:02 The transport industry
07:03 Closing remarks

Music:
"Style Funk" and "Hot Swing"
Creative Commons Attribution licence

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Rewboss
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[Jules_Diplopia]

As an Englishwoman, and petrolhead, I was shocked when I came to the Netherlands. Yes it was still practical, and more enjoyable than in the UK to drive, far less potholes for one thing. But what was even more shocking was that it wasn't needed. Public Transport here worked. Bicycles were not a suicidal deathtrap. There were sensible bike lanes EVERYWHERE.

So even a petrolhead like me gave up my car, as it had been sitting still for too long. I could walk or cycle to the store or to work. And if I needed to go further the tram was fantastic and the trains unbelievably reliable and cheap, compared to the UK.

The Netherlands is by no means perfect, and could easily be much better. But if it is already better than both the UK and Germany, it must be doing something right.

[thElemnt]

Well, the Dutch doesn't own considerable less cars than Germans. They just drive less. So, a public transport and bike friendly politic wouldn't hurt the german car industry at all.

[dcassus]

As someone who moved from (South) America to Berlin, I just adore that I can live 90% of my life without a car, unlike before (Rio's traffic is just as bad or worse than Los Angeles'). YET, we have a car (now I'm part of a family of 3) that is useful for going to Ikea or some short trips (as far as the Baltic). But visiting my in-law in NRW is a trip we prefer by train. Once, I was planning a trip to Copenhagen and I checked that by car it would cost a fortune either in tolls or ferries and would take an eternity no matter which path I chose. It was cheaper and faster to go by low-cost airline with a direct flight, so we went by plane.

[Weissenschenkel]

Fun fact: in Portuguese FDP is translated as SOB.

The Canadian living in Amsterdam, if anyone doesn't know, has a channel named "Not Just Bikes."

[galdavonalgerri]

Well, my opinion is fed out of the experience to live in a small village. There is no shop, no post office, no hairdresser, just nothing (except, of course, there is Schützenverein). Things mentioned above are approx.10 km away,
Public transport is a bus stop, which is served by buses two times a day (mo-fr) - if there are no school holidays.
Buses are very full and sometimes too full to board them, the driver is instructed to take pupils first.
You see, transport is VERY limited. Everybody owns a car here, me too.
Owning a car means I pay annually costs for ownership (tax, insurance, etc.). Driving to the next city and back costs me approximately 1 liter of Diesel which costs 1, 50€. Bus fares are approx. three times this amount.
Taking the bus means leaving at 07:00 h and getting back at 14:00 h - seven hours to shop for some rolls or some dog food. Guess which transportation people prefer.

[FoxyVulpes]

I fully agree on using trains/buses/walking/biking mainly for those who work at fixed office locations. I did that 12 years now, and rarely used my car to get to work. I’ve a good connection with the train from my home and to my former workplace in Luxembourg City (I even drove in 1st class, all day). Now that I’m an independent IT-Technician, I do need my car and that’s something that cannot be done using public transports or bike. (Imagine transporting a 4U Server along with a big UPS on a bike, in a rainy day)
Not fully banning cars but reducing – I FULLY agree on that and also making better connections with buses and such. And!! People must not that lazy to use the car to drive from one side to the next side of a parking lot. (less than 100m!). I’ve seen that often here in a famous supermarket here in Luxembourg.

[shakranandi]

I love it. German citizenship in English. We need more of this!

[slartybartfarst]

Excellent! I moved from the UK 20* years ago. Always drove there, but never had to bother where I live in Germany (Bus stop across the Road, U-Bahn stop 700 meters away, 12 minutes to the Hbf - just no need). But even here lots of people still drive because.... "I have a CAR" statement or something!!!

[patrikfrank]

Thumbs up! Rewboss, you know how they say: nail, hammer, head - nailed it!

[theuncalledfor]

REWBOSS
DO NOT FORGET BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE
Bicycles are extremely important, and a huge part of the reason the Netherlands are so pleasant in terms of the general transportation situation. Bicycling improves health and acts almost like a car for short-range trips except without the immense cost to infrastructure and noise pollution. People don't like cycling in bicycle gutters, protected bike lanes are needed. It will reduce car traffic and we will need less road space for cars as a result.

[matthiashartge]

What a great statement! Living in Hamburg, I feel you so well, since it its said to be one of the most car-accessibel cities in Germany. Biking really is an adventure when trying to navigate your way on narrow bikelanes on the walkway only centimeters away from four-lane roads...
And the city gouvernment notoriously refuses to make the downtown area less attractive for cars.

[santas_claws]

A very interesting thought and a very good video. Excellent work.

[tjtourette]

To make public transportation attractive, the prices have to go down significantly! If I wanted to spontainiously go to Berlin from where I live I would have to pay at least 90€ for an ICE ticket or 42€ for a ticket that only lets me use commuter trains for this particular day after 9 AM. The first option takes around 3, 5 hors, the second one just about 7 hours.
I'll make the assumption that this isn't something the average family could afford as a means of transportation for a family of four. Especially if the car ride costs less than one ICE ticket.
Not to mention the price for ticket subscriptions. In the VRR (Ruhr Area) you pay between 168, 90€ and 182, 61€ per month if you want to go across the whole VRR. Just for comparison: in Austria you pay 1095€ for a whole year for all trains and public transport in every region. The German equivalent would be the BahnCard 100 which costs 4027€ per year and doesn't allow you to use any local public transportation, just trains.

[John_Weiss]

I'm sad and dismayed at what has apparently become of public transport in Germany
I'm from the US, but studied for a semester at the Uni Mainz. In 1989.
I found the city's bus system not only comprehensive, but extremely convenient. Civilized, actually.

My family had a modest income, so I had to budget carefully. Nevertheless, I was able to visit Köln, Worm, Augsburg, and Füssen via the Bundesbahn, which was a pleasure to ride. At least, it was back in 1989.


Fast forward 30 years: summer, 2019. My husband and I were visiting his family in Pinzgau in Austria. We were also going to Berlin for a couple of days at the end of our trip. So, we took the train.
Deutsche Bahn _lost our reservations, _ the train, while quite new and modern-looking, was crowded. The trip wasn't torture, but it wasn't exactly pleasant, either.

I repeat: I'm saddened and dismayed.


Also, while I'm here: Germans, _STOP EMULATING THE US!!!_ We are _a lost people_ — we are heading for self-destruction! We should be _pitied, not imitated!_ You should be using the US as an example _OF WHAT NOT TO DO._

[soundscape]

100% with you on this one.

Also, nice new view... you should film from that room here and there.

[drsnova]

I travel a lot, and in recent years, I got myself a Bahncard, and started checking for every journey whether it's both more convenient and cheaper to take public transport to my destination. Sometimes I take trains, sometimes my car.

The bottom line is that public transport, right now, is far more inconvenient, and more expensive than just going by car - even if accounting for parking costs at my destination. Instead of just putting my luggage into my trunk, I have to carry it around with me, and while maybe driving is annoying or stressful to others - to me, it's far superior than to sit in a crowded, moving waiting room with annoying strangers. And that's not even going into travelling with 2 or 3 people, when the price for public transport just triples, and with a car, it's...essentially the same cost.

And you would assume that you have a much higher chance of "getting stuck in traffic" with a car and being late? No, nowadays, trains being 5 minutes to 5 hours late is the new normal. Im actually amazed I have not yet missed a flight due to it. And arriving late a night? Forget about getting home without a taxi or a long, long walk with your luggage.

And of course, prices for public transport go up, up, up all the time. In my city, I pay 2, 70€ per tram ride, making a visit to the city center cost 5, 40€. Alternatively, I can drive the 4km in virtually the same time, and park my car there for 2 hours, costing me 4€. Bonus: I'm independent of tram schedules and can, say, also go buy groceries on the way back.

Before covid and remote working, I took my car to work daily. I needed 10 minutes each way, costing me a negligible amount of money for each ride (~25-30 cents). Public transport would cost much more, and thanks to no direct connection, would take me 30 minutes each way. Paying more to lose 3 hours of my time each week? Sign me up!

And really, I would love to use public transport more. But it's just too unreliable, too inconvenient, service too sparse still, to realistically consider going without a car. Public transport would have to be heavily subsidized by taxes first, there is a need for more connections in non-major-metroplis-areas, and Germany could really do with a dedicated high-speed rail network as they have in France or Japan. Going Frankfurt to Berlin (~400km) by ICE in less than 4h, i.e. at more than a measly 100kph, would certainly entice more people to take a train.

[Desmaad]

Bombardier WAS Canadian; they had such a poor track record of meeting deadlines they sold their mass-transit divisions to other companies. Their train division was sold to Alstom.

[danroro]

A topic after my own heart. I even dream of a day where a scheme will be on offer in Germany, similar to the free "Senior Citizen Bus Pass" that is still available to people of retiring age in England.

[tungurahua]

Doesn’t matter who is the next transport minister. The only organisation the transport minister listens to is (unfortunately) the automobile lobby.

[itsa_possum]

The cynic in me sees the FDP in transport and expects twelve lane highways cutting through historical city centers by 2025.

But I am glad that people seem to be ever more aware of urban planning and the benefits of good public transport