Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – Hesse’s Economics and Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) is planning significant spending over the next two years for the expansion of cycle paths, more affordable housing and local public transport. The minister said on Wednesday in Wiesbaden that more money is also planned in the 2023/24 double budget for start-ups in the state, energy advice for citizens, municipalities and companies as well as for urban development. The Hessian state parliament will discuss the state budget next week. The adoption of the financial statement is then scheduled for the beginning of next year.
Al-Wazir announced that it would increase the budget for the three transport associations RMV, NVV and VRN to EUR 1.05 billion in 2023 and to EUR 1.167 billion a year later. “Since the financing of buses and trains is a joint task of the federal, state and local authorities, we are counting on the planned increase in funds being borne one third each from an increase in regionalization funds, an increase in state subsidies and from the funds from the municipal financial equalization can be.” He therefore expects the federal government to fulfill its responsibility and increase the regionalization funds for public transport.
When it comes to state road construction, he is sticking to the principle of renovation before new construction, explained the Minister of Transport. The funds should amount to 170 million euros in the next year and more than 90 percent of this will flow into the renovation. For the construction of new cycle paths on state roads, 17 million euros are estimated from 2024.
In order to provide more relief, especially in the Rhine-Main conurbation, the funds for affordable housing should also be increased, the Greens politician reported. “In 2021 we managed to reverse the trend for the first time in decades and for the first time there was more social housing in Hesse than in the previous year.” This development should be continued. For the coming year, 493.7 million euros and 520.4 million euros in the following year are to be used to build apartments for people with low or middle incomes and to acquire occupancy rights or student apartments.
