BSW on transport

The BSW wants schoolchildren and trainees to ride local public transit for free. The offer should be usable without a smartphone or similar device. In addition, admission to state museums would be free.

Schoolchildren and trainees should ride buses and trains for free. They should not need a phone for this. Entry to the state's museums should be free too.

The free travel applies to local public transit and is aimed at schoolchildren and trainees. No one should be forced to use a digital device to get it. The platform also provides for free admission to the state's museums.

The BSW wants to draw up a long-term investment program for roads, bridges and rail connections. Priorities should be set together with counties and municipalities to work off the maintenance backlog.

Many roads and bridges in Saxony are in bad shape. The BSW wants a plan for many years. The plan covers money for roads, bridges and rail. Counties and towns should help decide what comes first.

The program describes lane closures on bridges and roads due to structural damage as part of everyday life. It cites a lack of specialist firms as one reason, saying their number fell partly because public contracts dried up. It puts the investment needs of all Saxon municipalities at 9.91 billion euros through 2026. The backlog cannot be cleared quickly, it says, but gets more expensive the later work begins. Rural areas should be developed as an opportunity for the major centers.

The BSW wants every town and village connected to public transit at least once an hour and wants to expand regional rail. In the medium term, a single transit association with uniform fares is to cover all of Saxony.

Every town should have a bus, train, or on-call taxi once an hour. The BSW wants more and faster trains. The same ticket prices should apply across Saxony. The Deutschlandticket should stay. Stations should be safe and free of barriers.

In small villages and at off-peak hours, on-demand services such as a transit taxi could replace the bus. For regional rail, the state is to take on its task itself instead of handing it to transit associations, and use federal funds specifically for it. Plans include more regional express trains on main lines, barrier-free stations and vehicles, and better links between bus, rail, bike, and car sharing. The party backs the Deutschlandticket (nationwide transit pass) and sees further price cuts for certain groups as possible. Planning approval for transport projects is to be sped up, with more public participation.

The BSW rejects diesel driving bans, more paid parking zones, and a city toll. It also opposes a general 30 km/h limit in towns and a 120 km/h limit on highways.

The BSW wants no driving bans for diesel cars. There should be no toll for cities. Parking should not cost money in more places. The BSW is against a 30 km/h limit everywhere in towns. It is also against a 120 km/h limit on highways.

The party justifies this with respect for people who depend on a car to get to work, especially in rural counties. Instead of bans, it relies on smart traffic management against congestion, campaigns and training for road safety, and traffic-calmed zones in residential areas. Car sharing and ride-sharing platforms are to be promoted, mainly in the big cities.

The BSW wants to undo the planned end of new combustion-engine cars in 2035. According to the program, driving should stay affordable for most people, especially in rural areas.

From 2035, no new cars with combustion engines are supposed to be sold. The BSW wants to take this rule back. Saxony should keep building cheap, fuel-saving combustion cars. Driving should stay affordable for everyone.

The party wants to give the auto industry incentives to resume research into more fuel-efficient combustion engines and cheaper synthetic fuels. It names reversing the ban as a precondition for this. The program rejects disparaging remarks about people who drive combustion-engine cars.

The BSW wants to build out safe bike paths in cities and rural areas, for everyday use as well as tourism. The state is to make better use of federal funding for this.

The BSW wants to build more safe bike paths. This applies to cities and the countryside. There should be more safe places to park bikes. Saxony should use more federal money for this. Children should practice safe cycling at school.

This covers paths along roads as well as separate routes. Funding is to come from sources such as the federal National Cycling Plan 3.0. Plans include bike parking at stations, stops, and shopping centers, plus bicycle streets, bike traffic lights, and overpasses. Courses and safety training, for example in schools, are meant to improve knowledge of traffic rules. The party wants reckless behavior in traffic punished more consistently, and cycling tourism is to be marketed.