Bikes and Cars Duel Over the Same Parking Spaces in Berlin
Bloomberg (archive.ph)
By Feargus O'Sullivan
2022-12-07 19:12:29GMT
Bicycles are parked on the sidewalk in Neukölln, Berlin, in December. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
A striking detail hidden away in Berlin’s new parking regulations threatens to intensify the struggle between drivers and cyclists vying for space on the streets.
After Jan. 1, drivers will have to pay an extra euro ($1.05) per hour for street parking citywide, the new rules state. But two-wheeled vehicles (bikes, motorbikes and everything in between) can use these spaces for free — spaces that the public had hitherto largely assumed were reserved for motor vehicles.
The new rules have drawn criticism from drivers and cyclists alike, who anticipate a situation that the tabloid B.Z. has dubbed a “street brawl by law.” On social media, a few pro-bike advocates have threatened to plant a bike in every space they find just to spite car owners; in turn, drivers have warned that they’ll toss any bike they find in a space.
According to the city’s government, the regulation isn’t intended to stoke the war on cars — it’s about uncluttering sidewalks. “The goal behind it is very clear,” Berlin’s mobility commissioner Bettina Jarasch told Radio Berlin Brandenburg last week. “I finally want bicycles, scooters and other small vehicles to disappear from the sidewalks, where they have been legally tolerated until now.”
A stroll around any busy Berlin neighborhood can confirm the problem Jarasch mentions. Sidewalks are often partially blocked with bikes, not just stacked in racks but chained to railings, lampposts and trees. While many Berlin sidewalks are wide by European standards, pedestrians must pick their away around obstructions or just walk in the roadway near popular cafes and bars, especially if they’re pushing strollers or using wheelchairs. Given that multiple bikes or scooters can be packed into a single car space, there’s a strong accessibility case for nudging them off the sidewalk and into the roadways.
While the debate over cars and bikes fighting over the same parking spots is new, the legal landscape hasn’t actually changed: Two-wheelers are already permitted to claim street parking spots across Germany. Few do, however, because many riders appear to have been unaware of the option (there’s been no accompanying announcement of new bike racks for on-street spaces), and because previously, they would have had to pay for on-street parking just like cars do — hardly an attractive option when there are free spots on the sidewalk. In a Nov. 29 press release, the city made it clear that the exemption of two-wheeled vehicles from on-street parking costs is intended “to encourage users of these types of vehicles to make greater use of these traffic areas” — a striking comment even if the laws that the plan rests on have not in fact changed.
Friction between cars, bikes and pedestrians has been ticking up in Berlin, a spread-out city where private car usage is notably higher than in Paris. Like many European cities, the German capital has been making moves to discourage car use to reduce traffic and climate emissions. In 2017, the city approved construction of a grand network of “cycle superhighways” across the city to make bikes more feasible for longer journeys (though these separated thoroughfares remain in the planning stage). The following year it adopted a mobility act intended to push more residents toward active travel and public transportation, aiming to reduce private car journeys — which formed 31% of the total in 2013 — to an 18% modal share by 2030 and increasing cycling’s share from 13% to 23%.
Berlin mobility commissioner Bettina Jarasch at the opening of new bicycle parking facilities at Schöneberg Town Hall in December. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
These efforts intensified during the pandemic: Temporary bike lanes were introduced and a 2021 pedestrian law mandated, among other things, improvements to crosswalks and increased crossing times. Meanwhile, transit fares have been slashed in an effort to convince citizens to leave their cars at home — first a €9 ticket valid for three months in summer 2021 for all urban public transit on non-express trains across Germany, then a €29 monthly successor ticket valid in Berlin alone, currently being extended to March 2023.
Berlin’s cycling infrastructure still lags behind EU cities like Amsterdam or Copenhagen — and the city’s efforts to enhance it are less radical than those in Paris. But the rising ranks of two-wheelers have succeeded in making sidewalk space increasingly tight. And some bike- and pedestrian-friendly efforts have drawn backlashes. In November, for example, the pedestrianization of a major shopping street was reversed.
The German motorists’ association ADAC has complained that the city is essentially making drivers pay for the their failure to create proper scooter and bike parking spots elsewhere. Such efforts are in progress: Last month, for example, Jarasch inaugurated a small number of secure bike parking boxes, and the city has committed to building new multi-floor bike garages at subway and railway stations. But those facilities are not expected to open until 2025.
The new rules — as well as the new clarification of existing rules — may ultimately succeed in freeing up cluttered sidewalks, chiseling away at the right of drivers to claim roadways, and delivering a less congested streetscape. But if cyclists and drivers find themselves regularly going head-to-head for street space, there might be some harsh words exchanged first.
Bloomberg (archive.ph)
By Feargus O'Sullivan
2022-12-07 19:12:29GMT
Bicycles are parked on the sidewalk in Neukölln, Berlin, in December. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
A striking detail hidden away in Berlin’s new parking regulations threatens to intensify the struggle between drivers and cyclists vying for space on the streets.
After Jan. 1, drivers will have to pay an extra euro ($1.05) per hour for street parking citywide, the new rules state. But two-wheeled vehicles (bikes, motorbikes and everything in between) can use these spaces for free — spaces that the public had hitherto largely assumed were reserved for motor vehicles.
The new rules have drawn criticism from drivers and cyclists alike, who anticipate a situation that the tabloid B.Z. has dubbed a “street brawl by law.” On social media, a few pro-bike advocates have threatened to plant a bike in every space they find just to spite car owners; in turn, drivers have warned that they’ll toss any bike they find in a space.
According to the city’s government, the regulation isn’t intended to stoke the war on cars — it’s about uncluttering sidewalks. “The goal behind it is very clear,” Berlin’s mobility commissioner Bettina Jarasch told Radio Berlin Brandenburg last week. “I finally want bicycles, scooters and other small vehicles to disappear from the sidewalks, where they have been legally tolerated until now.”
A stroll around any busy Berlin neighborhood can confirm the problem Jarasch mentions. Sidewalks are often partially blocked with bikes, not just stacked in racks but chained to railings, lampposts and trees. While many Berlin sidewalks are wide by European standards, pedestrians must pick their away around obstructions or just walk in the roadway near popular cafes and bars, especially if they’re pushing strollers or using wheelchairs. Given that multiple bikes or scooters can be packed into a single car space, there’s a strong accessibility case for nudging them off the sidewalk and into the roadways.
While the debate over cars and bikes fighting over the same parking spots is new, the legal landscape hasn’t actually changed: Two-wheelers are already permitted to claim street parking spots across Germany. Few do, however, because many riders appear to have been unaware of the option (there’s been no accompanying announcement of new bike racks for on-street spaces), and because previously, they would have had to pay for on-street parking just like cars do — hardly an attractive option when there are free spots on the sidewalk. In a Nov. 29 press release, the city made it clear that the exemption of two-wheeled vehicles from on-street parking costs is intended “to encourage users of these types of vehicles to make greater use of these traffic areas” — a striking comment even if the laws that the plan rests on have not in fact changed.
Friction between cars, bikes and pedestrians has been ticking up in Berlin, a spread-out city where private car usage is notably higher than in Paris. Like many European cities, the German capital has been making moves to discourage car use to reduce traffic and climate emissions. In 2017, the city approved construction of a grand network of “cycle superhighways” across the city to make bikes more feasible for longer journeys (though these separated thoroughfares remain in the planning stage). The following year it adopted a mobility act intended to push more residents toward active travel and public transportation, aiming to reduce private car journeys — which formed 31% of the total in 2013 — to an 18% modal share by 2030 and increasing cycling’s share from 13% to 23%.
Berlin mobility commissioner Bettina Jarasch at the opening of new bicycle parking facilities at Schöneberg Town Hall in December. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
These efforts intensified during the pandemic: Temporary bike lanes were introduced and a 2021 pedestrian law mandated, among other things, improvements to crosswalks and increased crossing times. Meanwhile, transit fares have been slashed in an effort to convince citizens to leave their cars at home — first a €9 ticket valid for three months in summer 2021 for all urban public transit on non-express trains across Germany, then a €29 monthly successor ticket valid in Berlin alone, currently being extended to March 2023.
Berlin’s cycling infrastructure still lags behind EU cities like Amsterdam or Copenhagen — and the city’s efforts to enhance it are less radical than those in Paris. But the rising ranks of two-wheelers have succeeded in making sidewalk space increasingly tight. And some bike- and pedestrian-friendly efforts have drawn backlashes. In November, for example, the pedestrianization of a major shopping street was reversed.
The German motorists’ association ADAC has complained that the city is essentially making drivers pay for the their failure to create proper scooter and bike parking spots elsewhere. Such efforts are in progress: Last month, for example, Jarasch inaugurated a small number of secure bike parking boxes, and the city has committed to building new multi-floor bike garages at subway and railway stations. But those facilities are not expected to open until 2025.
The new rules — as well as the new clarification of existing rules — may ultimately succeed in freeing up cluttered sidewalks, chiseling away at the right of drivers to claim roadways, and delivering a less congested streetscape. But if cyclists and drivers find themselves regularly going head-to-head for street space, there might be some harsh words exchanged first.
