CDU on transport

The CDU wants to introduce a youth ticket for local public transit and push for accompanied driving from age 16. It also wants to promote youth exchanges, leisure activities in municipalities, and young people's participation in democracy.

Young people should be able to ride buses and trains for one euro a day. The CDU also wants 16-year-olds to be allowed to drive with an adult. Every town should have activities for young people. More young people should be able to travel abroad.

The youth ticket would let apprentices, university students and school students from 11th grade use public transit year-round for one euro a day. The CDU intends to lobby at the federal and EU level for accompanied driving from age 16. More money is planned for European and international youth exchanges, with the state agency for civic education taking a larger role. Independent providers, churches and clubs are to receive financial support for local youth activities, especially in rural areas. Child and youth councils and political youth organizations would continue to be funded.

The CDU considers the car indispensable, especially in rural areas, and wants to invest more in roads. It rejects a general speed limit on the autobahn. On propulsion it favors a technology-neutral approach with hydrogen filling stations and charging points.

The CDU says people in rural areas need cars. It wants to spend more money on roads. It does not want a speed limit on all highways. It wants to support hydrogen stations and charging points for electric cars.

Thuringia's road projects in the federal transport infrastructure plan would be carried out faster, especially bypasses around towns. Spending on state and municipal roads would rise, including roads in existing business parks. Repair and expansion of the road network would follow demand in both urban and rural areas. The CDU would also fund hydrogen filling stations and, together with grid operators, a dense network of regular and fast charging points.

The CDU wants to invest in modern, climate-friendly bus and rail service. Lines would run more often, a statewide bus network would be created, and flexible services such as on-call buses would supplement it. Rural train stations would be kept.

The CDU wants better buses and trains. Buses should run more often and all over the state. There should be more on-call buses and shared taxis. Train stations in rural areas should stay. Some old rail lines should run again.

Plans include expanding, modernizing and electrifying infrastructure and buying new vehicles. The CDU would press the federal government for higher regionalization funds, meaning more federal money for local transit. A comprehensive bus network at PlusBus and TaktBus standard would be supplemented by on-demand, sharing and pooling services. Closed lines would be reopened if that is economically viable or clearly improves mobility. Fast rail links would connect Thuringia to the urban centers of neighboring states.

The CDU wants to put more money into bike paths suited to everyday use and launch a municipal bike path construction program. Taking bicycles on local trains would become free. To improve road safety, planning of school routes would become mandatory.

The CDU wants to build more and better bike paths. People should be able to take bikes on local trains for free. Routes to school should become safer. For that, a plan for school routes should be required.

Investment would go into building and maintaining bike paths, bike garages especially at transit hubs, and charging stations. Existing cycling plans would be carried out quickly. Cycling would be taken into account when roads are newly built or substantially renovated. The state's road safety program would be updated, with a particular focus on safe routes to school.