Grüne on transport

The Greens want a verifiable CO2 budget and binding reduction targets for transportation in Lower Saxony. Car traffic should fall substantially, while buses, rail, cycling and walking should grow strongly.

Cars and trucks emit a lot of CO2. The Greens want fixed targets for less CO2 from traffic. There should be less car traffic. More people should use buses, trains and bikes. More goods should travel by train and ship.

The program accuses the SPD-CDU state government of missing its climate targets in transportation because car traffic and the number of cars keep growing. A climate law with targets and measures for the transport sector would set the framework so the state does its part for the 1.5-degree goal. Settlement planning and digitalization are meant to cut traffic volumes. As much freight as possible would shift to rail and waterways. Lower Saxony is to become a model for linking the transitions in transport, drive technology and energy.

The Greens want to introduce a mobility guarantee: every locality in Lower Saxony should be served by public transit at least once an hour from early morning until night. Getting around should no longer depend on owning a car.

Many places have only a few buses. The Greens want to change this. Every place should have a bus or train at least once an hour. This should apply from early morning until night. Where regular lines make no sense, on-call buses should run.

The guarantee is meant to apply regardless of where people live, their age, disability or income. Where fixed routes make no economic or ecological sense, on-demand services would pick people up, such as on-call buses bookable online or via a free phone number, and ride pooling. All services would be usable at regular public transit fares. The Greens want to test this first in pilot regions and then extend it step by step to the whole state.

The Greens want to revise the state's public transit law, provide more money and distribute it by transparent criteria. Three quarters of transport funding for municipalities should go to buses, rail, cycling and walking.

The Greens want to give more money to buses and trains. To do this, they want to change two laws. Three quarters of transport funding should go to buses, trains, bike paths and footpaths. New buses should run without diesel.

The state's municipal transport financing law would be realigned: walking is added, more types of projects become eligible, and 75 percent of the funds go to the Umweltverbund (public transit, cycling, walking and sharing). The funding rate would be tied to a project's CO2 effect. For bus purchases, only climate-neutral drives would be funded. The state would also actively seek federal money under the federal municipal transport financing law and higher federal regionalization funds for local rail.

The Greens want much more capacity, more frequent service and more punctual trains in regional rail. To pay for it, higher federal funds would be used and state investment increased.

Many regional trains are late. The Greens want more trains to run. Trains should run more often and be on time. The state should spend more money on this. More lines should get electric power.

According to the program, about one in ten regional trains in Lower Saxony is delayed. The Greens back the Deutschlandtakt, a nationally coordinated timetable, and the expansion of the rail network. The state would take a leading role in rolling out the digital train control system ETCS and align its tender criteria accordingly. Federal money would be used to electrify more lines quickly. The state transit authority LNVG would be more involved in Deutsche Bahn infrastructure projects, with reliable connections and short transfer times.

The Greens want to bring disused rail lines back into passenger service, mainly to connect rural areas better. Lines would be registered for federal funding, and a state plan would be drawn up together with the regions.

Lower Saxony used to have more rail lines. Many of them are closed today. The Greens want to reopen such lines. This should mainly help people in rural areas. The money should come from the federal government.

According to the program, more than 100 lines were closed over 60 years, many of which still exist and could be reopened with relative ease. The Greens accuse the SPD-CDU government of slowing the process begun in 2013. Expanded federal funding options would pay for it. Municipalities would get help with feasibility studies. The state transit authority would be realigned to support reopenings as well as new lines and stops.

The Greens want to align regional rail with the planned nationwide Deutschlandtakt (integrated timetable) through a Lower Saxony timetable, so that connections become faster. Reliability and quality are to be decisive when rail contracts are awarded, and locally rooted rail companies are to be strengthened.

The Greens want a fixed timetable rhythm for Lower Saxony. Regional trains should match long-distance trains well. Then people wait less when they change trains. Rail companies from the region should get more support.

Regional lines of wider importance are to become part of the Deutschlandtakt. In tendering for local rail services, quality and reliability are to be the key criteria, and poor performance by operators is to be penalized effectively. The program argues that large, profit-driven international companies have recently caused drops in quality. In the longer run, the Greens want to examine with an open outcome whether Lower Saxony should have a state-owned railway modeled on the one in Hesse.

The Greens want to abolish first class on local and regional trains to free up space for all passengers. Trains are also to be better equipped, and a training drive is meant to tackle the shortage of train drivers.

The Greens want to end first class on local trains. That gives more room for everyone. Trains should have Wi-Fi, power outlets and tables. The state should train more people as train drivers.

Ending first class is meant to prevent empty seats there while second class is overcrowded. A Lower Saxony training drive is to attract new groups to the train driver profession, and pilot projects with automated trains are to be supported. Options for taking bikes on trains are to be expanded, with fair fares that are the same at all times of day. More bike parking is planned at stations, and park-and-ride and bike-and-ride offers are to be developed with municipalities, including charging infrastructure.

The Greens want a statewide social ticket for 365 euros a year for apprentices, school students, people on low incomes and volunteers in service programs. Everyone else is to be offered an affordable statewide climate ticket, and the fare structure is to be unified across the state.

The Greens want a ticket for 365 euros a year. It works in all of Lower Saxony. First, students, apprentices and people with little money get it. Everyone else should be able to buy a cheap climate ticket. One ticket should be enough for one trip.

Following the idea that one trip needs only one ticket, fares and sales are to be unified statewide in the longer term. A statewide environmental or climate ticket by subscription is to complement regional offers. Travel cost reimbursement is to be extended to upper secondary students and apprentices so that trips to school, training and volunteer service cost nothing extra. A single app is to allow booking of all mobility services; for this, providers are to make their data available completely and free of charge.

The Greens want to make buses and trains accessible across the whole state. To do so, the state is to provide earmarked funds and write this into the local transport law.

Buses and trains should be accessible everywhere. That means people with disabilities can use them well. The state should give its own money for this. This should be written into the law.

The Lower Saxony local transport law (NNVG) is to state that the state provides money that may only be used for accessible public transport. This is meant to support the municipal transport authorities. Municipal local transport plans are also to be aligned with accessibility goals.

The Greens pursue the goal that no one dies in road traffic (Vision Zero). To that end, they advocate at the federal level for a 130 km/h limit on autobahns and want states to be allowed to introduce 80 km/h on rural roads and 30 km/h in built-up areas.

The Greens want no one to die in road traffic. For this, autobahns should have a limit of 130 km/h. States should be allowed to set 80 km/h on rural roads. In towns, 30 km/h should be possible.

The program names excessive speed as the main cause of serious crashes and holds that casualty numbers will not fall without speed limits. Any leeway the federal government has promised the states on speed limits is to be used in full. Municipalities and counties are to get help with traffic plans that allow safe trips to school on foot and by bike. Turning-assist systems are to be installed or retrofitted in trucks, and municipalities are to be supported with independent road safety assessments and the resulting construction work.

The Greens want to build a statewide cycling network and initiate 1,000 kilometers of bike paths along rural roads. Funding for municipal road building is to go increasingly into bike paths so that more people switch from cars to bikes.

The Greens want to build many more bike paths. Along rural roads, 1,000 kilometers of new bike paths should be created. More road-building money should go to bike paths. This way more people should ride bikes.

Of the 75 million euros for municipal road building, at least 20 million are initially to go to bike path projects, later 80 percent. Municipal road building is to be funded only if enough space for cycling and walking is planned; municipalities are to draw up cycling mobility plans. The state is to treat bike highways as its own task, give priority planning to cross-municipal links, and strengthen its road authority and specialist staff for this. Funding for cargo bikes and bike trailers is also to be expanded, rental bikes integrated into public transport fares, and state employees offered job-bike leasing.

The Greens want to give walking more weight in transport and urban planning and to reallocate traffic space overall. Municipalities are to be able to use street space differently, temporarily or permanently, and the number of cars is to drop significantly.

The Greens want better paths for pedestrians and wheelchair users. Space on the streets should be shared out anew. Towns should be allowed to use streets differently, for example for festivals or play streets. There should be fewer cars.

Funding for walking projects is to be expanded with extra money through the municipal transport financing law. Initiatives are to get help when they want to use streets temporarily, for instance for neighborhood parties, markets, play streets or pop-up bike lanes. The program justifies the reallocation by saying cars sit parked 23 hours a day on average and take up a lot of space. Together with municipalities, alternatives to the car are to be created.

The Greens reject construction of the A20/A26, A33 Nord, A39 and E 233 as well as the Elbe bridge near Neu Darchau. Roads are to be repaired rather than newly built because, in the program's view, new roads increase car dependence and worsen the ecological crisis.

The Greens do not want to build new autobahns. For example, they are against the A20 and the A39. The money should go to fixing old roads. The Greens think new roads bring more car traffic.

The program rejects new road construction on principle and calls it the continuation of a misguided transport policy. Road-building funds from the municipal transport financing law are to go primarily to maintenance. New state roads are to be built only in exceptional cases. Instead of a fixed Elbe crossing, the Greens back the climate-neutral future concept of the Wischhafen–Glückstadt Elbe ferry.

The Greens want to create 100,000 public charging points in Lower Saxony by 2030 and have the auto industry share responsibility. The state's vehicle fleet is to run fully electric as a rule within five years, and parking lots are to be covered with solar panels.

The Greens want many more charging stations for electric cars. By 2030 there should be 100,000 public charging points. The state government's cars should run on electricity. Solar panels should stand above parking lots.

The charging points are to be low-barrier and safely accessible and built mainly in parking garages, underground garages and parking lots, with federal help. The program argues that the car will remain important despite a shift to other modes and must contribute to the 1.5-degree target. A strategy is to cut energy use in transport significantly and provide for a smart charging system that stabilizes grids and stores power. Photovoltaics are also to be installed along roads, and the idea of turning autobahns into energy corridors is to be reexamined.

The Greens want to move as much freight as possible onto rail quickly. To this end, the federal government is to expand rail infrastructure swiftly, above all the overloaded Hamburg–Hanover north-south axis, and industrial parks are to get rail sidings.

The Greens want more goods to travel by train. Today most goods go by truck. The federal government should expand the rail lines faster. Large business parks should get a rail link again.

The program points out that less than 20 percent of goods are carried by rail and cites a lack of track capacity, delays and high track access charges as reasons. In the Greens' view, the hinterland of the seaports is especially important. Expanding the Hamburg–Hanover line is to deliver more noise protection and better local transport for the region alongside freight capacity. Transfer sites for trucks, new combined transport hubs and fully electric supply chains are also to be funded.

The Greens want to significantly reduce the climate impact of aviation and consider fewer takeoffs and landings necessary in the medium term. Longer night-time quiet hours are meant to protect residents from aircraft noise.

Planes harm the climate. So the Greens want fewer takeoffs and landings. Airports should be quiet for longer at night. That way people living nearby have less noise.

Aviation is to be geared toward climate neutrality, and the state is to adjust its policy and funding accordingly. Noise and pollution around airports are to fall significantly. At the federal level, the Greens want to change aviation law so that takeoffs and landings can be restricted in time and place. According to the program, aviation should be environmentally and socially acceptable for employees, passengers and residents.

The Greens want to improve rail connections to the port of Wilhelmshaven and develop inland ports into transfer hubs for ship, rail and truck. The aim is to shift more freight onto ships and rail, which the platform regards as environmentally and climate friendly.

The Greens want more goods to travel by train and ship. The port of Wilhelmshaven should get better rail lines. Ports on rivers and canals should grow. Small harbors for fishing boats should stay too.

To relieve the Bremen rail hub, suitable routes for hinterland traffic are to be secured, including Quakenbrück–Rheine. The Oldenburg–Osnabrück line is to be electrified. Trimodal means that ship, rail and road are linked at one site. The state is also to preserve small harbors for coastal fishing boats and the ports serving the East Frisian Islands, which the platform calls part of the state's culture and important for tourism.