CDU on transport

The CDU wants to turn public transit into a real alternative to driving. Larger municipalities are to get a rail or express bus link, regional trains are to run every 15 minutes as a baseline, and bus and on-demand services are to grow statewide.

The CDU wants more buses and trains. Every town with 20,000 people or more should get a train or a fast bus. Trains should run every 15 minutes. Buses that you can order should be available everywhere.

The plan rests on a target network for regional rail under which, over time, every municipality with at least 20,000 residents gets a rail or express bus connection. More direct connections on busy routes are meant to reduce transfers, and service early in the morning and late in the evening is to be extended. A new funding tool is to be added to the state's public transit law: municipalities that meet state minimum standards for bus or on-demand service receive extra money. The CDU also wants to press the federal government to allow sharing services for the last mile to be paid for from public transit funds.

The CDU wants to connect the various transport options more closely, both digitally and on the ground. It plans a single app for all modes of transport, 1,000 more mobility hubs, and a discounted monthly ticket for older people.

The CDU wants to link buses, trains, bikes and shared cars better. One app should work for all trips. There should be 1,000 new mobility hubs. People can change easily there. Older people should get a ticket for 30 euros a month.

Building on the existing eezy.nrw e-fare, an app is to be created that lets people plan, book and pay for trips across all modes, including on-demand, car-sharing and bike-sharing services. Another 1,000 mobility hubs are meant to make it easier to switch between transit, bikes and car-sharing. Seniors are to be offered a 100-kilometer subscription in the eezy app for 30 euros a month. Cross-border ticketing is also planned, modeled on a project between the Aachen region and the Netherlands. Together with transit associations, chambers of commerce and the skilled trades, the CDU wants to find a way to offer job tickets to small and medium-sized businesses as well.

The CDU wants to expand the bike path network so that a quarter of all trips are made by bicycle in the future. At least 1,000 kilometers of new bike paths are to be built within five years. It also stands by the goal that no one should be harmed in road traffic.

The CDU wants to build more bike paths. In five years there should be at least 1,000 kilometers more. People should make one in four trips by bike. People on foot and on bikes should be safer.

The new bike path registry is to be used to close gaps so that a connected statewide network emerges. Bike paths and sidewalks are to be planned into every road construction project from the start. Municipalities are to get state help with organizing and financing the expansion, including charging points for e-bikes and pedelecs. The guiding principle for road safety remains Vision Zero, meaning as few traffic deaths and injuries as possible.

The CDU wants to work with the federal government to move more freight from roads onto trains and inland ships. To that end, the rail network is to be expanded, freight yards modernized and canal bridges raised. The program justifies this with the industrial region's need for a resilient logistics network.

The CDU wants more goods to travel by train and ship. For this, the rail network should get better. Bridges over canals should be raised. Then ships can carry more containers.

Funding for non-federally owned railways, reinstated in 2018, is to grow so that commercial and logistics sites are linked to Deutsche Bahn's network. Together with Deutsche Bahn, lines are to be expanded, electrified and digitized. Around the Cologne hub, a freight bypass is planned using RWE's rail network, which becomes available once open-pit mining ends. In Hamm, a logistics hub is to boost loading capacity substantially. The state agency Straßen.NRW is to plan and carry out the raising of canal bridges on behalf of the federal government, and money will go into research on autonomous inland vessels and low-emission propulsion.

The CDU wants to keep spending on state roads at its current high level and build more town bypasses. In its view, roads, bridges and tunnels in good condition are a basis for growth and mobility, and less through traffic improves quality of life in towns.

The CDU wants to keep spending a lot of money on roads. It wants to build roads that go around towns. Then fewer cars drive through the town. There should be more parking for trucks.

Bypasses are to be newly built and expanded; the program expects fewer pollutants, less noise and more safety for pedestrians and cyclists as a result. More truck parking is to be created along federal highways. A multilingual app-based guidance system is to manage how full these lots are. This is meant to help truck drivers plan their rest periods and make other road users safer.

The CDU wants to further shorten and digitize planning, permitting and construction procedures. It calls on the federal government to replace the bridges on autobahns and federal roads in the state as quickly as possible. A recruitment drive at universities is meant to bring in more planning professionals.

The CDU wants roads and bridges to be planned and built faster. Offices should do more of this work digitally. The federal government should rebuild broken bridges quickly. More young people should train as planners.

The ramp-up in planning, permitting and construction begun in recent years is to continue. For bridge replacement, the CDU demands that the federal government implement its ten-point acceleration program, set up a special fund of 300 million euros, and create a dedicated planning unit for bridges in North Rhine-Westphalia. The study campaign for more planners is to be launched together with universities and the construction industry.

The CDU sees the electric motor as the drive system of the future and wants to expand subsidies for charging stations so that electric mobility works in everyday life across the state. In addition, other technologies such as e-fuels and fuel cells are to be funded on a technology-neutral basis.

The CDU wants to fund more charging stations for electric cars. Everyone should be able to charge, in cities and in the countryside. The CDU also wants to support other ways to power vehicles. These include man-made fuels. They are called e-fuels.

Charging infrastructure is to be within reach for homeowners and renters alike, in cities and rural areas; the CDU demands reliable framework conditions from the federal government for this. The production of synthetic fuels is to be subsidized because, in the party's view, they can make existing cars as well as planes, ships and trucks climate-neutral. The program also wants to use automated, connected systems and artificial intelligence to make traffic flow better and be more climate-friendly. More federal institutions for new mobility are to be brought to the state.

The CDU wants to retain the airports spread across the state. It intends to decide how air traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia should develop based on the aviation strategy announced by the federal government, taking into account climate protection and noise protection for residents.

The CDU wants to keep the many airports in the state. It wants to wait for a plan from the federal government first. Then it will decide about air traffic. Protecting the climate and limiting noise should matter in that decision.

According to the program, it remains open how the pandemic, demographic change and growing climate awareness will alter flying habits. Conclusions for the state are therefore to be drawn only on the basis of the federal Aviation Concept 2030+. Air taxis and electric aircraft are to be factored into the airports' usage plans. As an example of testing new technology, the CDU cites a drone test area in the Aachen/Mönchengladbach region.