SPD on transport

The SPD wants charging options for electric cars everywhere in the state by 2030 at the latest. To get there, it plans an expansion pact with municipalities, public utilities and the energy industry.

The SPD wants charging stations for electric cars everywhere. This should happen by 2030 at the latest. The state should work with towns, cities and energy companies. People in apartment buildings should also be able to charge their cars easily.

The planned pact is called "Neue Mobilität" (New Mobility). It foresees a mix of private charging points at home and at work plus public chargers. Residents of apartment buildings are to get freely accessible charging points, for example on lampposts. A dense network of fast-charging stations is to be added. Municipalities are to draw up their own plans for public chargers, with support from the state.

The SPD wants to expand bus and rail service, especially in rural areas, so people can get around without their own car. Municipalities are to be allowed to levy charges to fund fare-free transit, and students and trainees are to get a statewide ticket for one euro a day.

The SPD wants more buses and trains, above all in rural areas. People should get everywhere without a car. Students and trainees should get a ticket for one euro a day. It is valid across the state. Cities and counties should be allowed to collect money for transit without tickets.

In rural areas, on-call buses, volunteer-run community buses and on-demand services such as ridepooling are to be funded. The one-euro ticket is also to cover people doing voluntary service. Tickets are to be available through a single digital option statewide. By 2030, buses and regional trains are to run largely emission-free. Stations and passenger information are to become accessible. In the long run the SPD aims for a "Hausanschluss Mobilität" (mobility connection for every home), meaning services, doctors and offices reachable without a car.

The SPD wants to raise cycling's share of traffic from about 15 to at least 25 percent by 2030 and put more money into bike paths. Municipalities are to get more say, for example over lower speeds in built-up areas.

The SPD wants more people to ride bikes. There should be more and better bike paths. People on foot should also be safer. Towns and cities should more often set lower speeds themselves. Nobody should die in traffic.

The guiding idea is "Vision Zero," meaning traffic without deaths or serious injuries. At the federal level, the SPD wants to push for traffic islands, crosswalks and speed limits before town entrances. In urban and transport planning, more space is to go to environmentally friendly ways of getting around. A bike leasing scheme is planned for public-sector employees. The program also stresses that most people will still need a car after 2030, especially in rural areas.

The SPD wants to bring disused rail lines and stations back into service and launch a new program for this. Existing lines are to be upgraded and electrified because, in the party's view, rail travel helps the climate.

The SPD wants to strengthen the railway. Old rail lines and stations should open again. Existing lines should get better. More trains should run on electricity. More goods should also travel by train.

Three reactivations already under way are to be completed in any case, including Coevorden–Neuenhaus and Maschen–Buchholz. The SPD stands by the Alpha-E option, which upgrades existing lines between Hamburg, Bremen and Hanover, and wants to upgrade the Hanover–Bielefeld long-distance link. Where branch lines cannot be electrified, battery or fuel-cell trains are to run. The state backs the Deutschlandtakt (nationwide synchronized timetable), with the federal government to bear the costs of needed changes in regional transit. For freight, new rail sidings are to be examined.

The SPD wants to keep planning and building the A 20, A 26 and A 39 highways. To renew road bridges, it plans to hire specialists and set up an investment program.

The SPD wants to keep building three highways. They are the A 20, the A 26 and the A 39. Many road bridges are old. They should be renewed. The SPD wants to hire experts and provide money for this.

According to the program, a large share of bridges on federal and state roads must be renewed this decade. The state is to hire staff for planning and construction. A separate investment program is planned for bridges on state roads. The A 20 is to cross the Elbe and Weser rivers, and the A 39 is to link Wolfsburg and Lüneburg.

The SPD advocates free local public transit for students in the upper secondary grades. This is meant to ease the burden on parents and young people. The tickets should ideally also be valid for trainees and people doing voluntary service.

Older high school students should ride buses and trains for free. The SPD wants to introduce this. It should help parents and students. Trainees and young volunteers should get the ticket too.

The platform presents the plan as relief for parents and students. It refers to a free local public transit offer for the upper secondary level (Oberstufe). The SPD aims for these tickets to also be valid for (school-based) trainees, participants in the federal volunteer service, and those doing a voluntary social year (FSJ).