In some rural regions of Saxony-Anhalt, local transport is poorly developed. In a model project, the Greens want to test how people there can be mobile without their own car.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – After the parliamentary summer break, the Greens want to call on the state government to launch a model project with communally used village cars. Cornelia Lüddemann, head of the Greens parliamentary group, confirmed corresponding plans to the German Press Agency. “The idea is to put an electric car in the villages – as a publicly funded car sharing service. That would be a good way of doing away with the second or third car in rural areas or not having to buy it at all.”
The opposition faction envisages that the model project be tested at four locations in the country. The residents should be able to use the electric cars for every two years. The funding from the state is intended to enable both the purchase and maintenance of the vehicles and the development and operation of a booking system. If the trial is successful, a state-wide funding program will be set up. “That can be part of strengthening public services. The state has withdrawn too far from some areas,” said Lüddemann.
The application states that car sharing vehicles are an efficient and sustainable answer to individual mobility needs, not every household wants or can park three cars in the driveway. According to the Green Group, there are car sharing providers in almost all large cities and in many medium-sized towns in Germany, but only in 4.6 percent of municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. In order to change that, the public sector should take countermeasures.
When it comes to mobility, the black-red-yellow coalition is planning its own model project. The aim is to test discounted annual tickets for local public transport. The state parliament has decided to test 365-day tickets. The use of public transport for the equivalent of one euro a day is to be tested in two regions in Saxony-Anhalt, in an independent city and in rural areas. The trainee ticket is also to be evaluated. With the discounted monthly ticket, trainees in Saxony-Anhalt can use local trains, buses and trams throughout the state. They pay 50 euros per month for this.
