AfD on transport

The AfD wants to invest far more in transport routes and networks to clear the repair backlog for roads and bridges. Lower Saxony's ports should also get sufficient funding. Municipalities should receive more money for their roads, and construction sites should take less time.

Many roads and bridges in Lower Saxony are in bad shape. The AfD wants to spend much more on repairs. The ports should get more money too. Towns should get more money for their roads. Road works should finish faster.

The program names waterways, roads and rail as well as networks for electricity, internet, water and sewage. Because districts and municipalities have no tax revenue of their own from transport, the distribution formula is to shift in their favor when municipal finances are reorganized. Tenders are to require short construction times and little traffic disruption and follow RAL quality standards. Detour routes are to stay free of construction during that time. The AfD justifies this with the costs that traffic jams and detours cause for citizens and businesses.

The AfD rejects a registration ban on combustion engines and wants free competition between drive systems. Subsidies and regulatory interventions in favor of electric mobility are to end, with only research being supported. The party wants to promote synthetic and alternative fuels.

The AfD does not want to ban gasoline and diesel cars. The state should stop paying money for electric cars. Buyers should decide for themselves which car they want. Research on electric cars should continue. The AfD wants to support other fuels such as hydrogen.

No mode of transport or drive type is to be favored. The AfD considers research on electric mobility useful for Lower Saxony as a car-making location. LPG, methanol, synthetic diesel and gasoline, and hydrogen are to be promoted. According to the program, electric cars have not prevailed on the market because storing electricity is difficult, and nationwide use would need more power than wind and sun can supply. In the party's view, fossil fuels will last for a very long time.

The AfD wants roads and rail to remain state property. The railway should reinvest its profits, remove bottlenecks in the network and become quieter. Smaller district towns should be better connected to the ICE high-speed network.

Roads and rail tracks should belong to the state. The AfD does not want them sold to private companies. The railway should put its profits into the network. Trains should become quieter. Smaller towns should get better links to ICE trains.

The AfD views the federal Autobahn GmbH critically and demands that the states stay involved in planning. Deutsche Bahn's profits are to be used to fix bottlenecks quickly and to refit trains with quiet brakes and smooth wheel treads. Innovations in transport and traffic management are also to get more support, as an alternative to new government rules.

The AfD calls for a higher commuter tax allowance because the cost of getting to work has risen sharply. It considers many traffic fines disproportionate; they should be appropriate and based on income.

Getting to work has become more expensive. So the AfD wants more tax relief for commuters. Commuters are people who travel to work. The AfD thinks traffic fines are often too high. The amount should depend on income.

The program justifies the relief by saying the state collects more on gasoline and diesel because of higher oil prices. Traffic violations should still be punished. However, the AfD accuses current policy of mainly seeking revenue through ever-rising fines and sees no proportion to fines in other areas.