A dozen pairs of shoes line the zebra crossing in front of the Senator for Transport’s seat in Mitte. There are signs in the shoes with inscriptions such as “More 30”, “Sidewalks for people” or “Trees instead of asphalt”. Five demonstrators in green high-visibility vests stand side by side on the sidewalk, holding placards in their hands that read: “2021 PROMISED.” Then, all of a sudden, they show the backs at the same time: “BREAKED IN 2026.”
Around 15 people gathered in front of the Senate building at Köllnischer Park on Monday morning. They agree: Transport Senator Ute Bonde (CDU) must resign. The action takes place as part of a rally by the “pedestrian lobby” Fuss e. V. instead. The association campaigns for more and safer footpaths in the Autostadt Berlin.
The turning signs are intended to point out the discrepancy between the words and deeds of the Senate administration – and thereby the total failure of Bonde. Under the leadership of the CDU politician, the Senate “did almost nothing of what the law requires for Berlin’s most widespread and city-friendly form of mobility,” says Fuss board member Roland Stimpel.
The red-red-green Senate had passed the Mobility Act 2021, which emerged largely from the “bicycle referendum”. As the “first mobility law in Germany”, it was intended to substantially advance the transport transition in the capital. The main focus is “Vision Zero”: “No one should be seriously or even fatally injured by others in road traffic,” as it says on the state website (www.berlin.de).
In concrete terms, this would mean slowing down Berlin’s traffic routes with more 30 km/h zones and zebra crossings. The traffic administration has not yet implemented a single one of the “immediate program” of 100 zebra crossings announced in 2023, says Stimpel. To do this, last summer she rezoned 20 streets in Berlin from 30 to 50 km/h.
“Three quarters of all fatal accidents in Berlin occur on streets with a speed limit of 50 or higher,” argues the pedestrian lobby association. Despite “Vision Zero”, according to information from Fuss e. V. continues to hit someone on foot every four hours in Berlin. According to Stimpel, this does not take into account the fact that accidents due to the black ice on Berlin sidewalks do not appear in traffic accident statistics.
The transport administration only responded to a query from the taz with a reference to its press release on the anniversary of the law. It slips past reality: “It is crucial that mobility does not become a culture war, but rather a common task with clear, fair rules, instead of being ideologically over-controlled.”
Ragnhild Sørensen, press spokeswoman for the Changing Cities cycling association, also read the Senate’s statement and wonders “what the senator was smoking.” The association calls “the hallucinations of the Senate administration showcase politics” and is thinking “in the same direction” as the Fuss Association with regard to the demand for resignation.