Aufbauwerk's action plan addresses the Operational program of the Free State of Saxony (2018), as selected policy instrument.
Its goal is to reduce CO2-emissions, particularly through promoting public transport, cycling as well as intelligent traffic management. Based on the situation in the City of Leipzig with its surrounding rural districts in the context of Central Germany, and taking into consideration the insights from the DEMO-EC project, the follwoing three actiosn were selected and their implementation started in 2020:
Action 1: Central German Transport Association Plus
The issue to be tackled is the fact that there are several transport associations within a 90 minute radius around the City of Leipzig. Each association has different ticket prices and other regulations that travelers have to be aware of. Inspired by the GPs from Spain and Slovenia, it is foreseen to extend the Leipzig transport association to include all destinations within a 90 minute radius around the city and to create a dedicated transport association app, combining all the transport means. Thereby, multimodal transport will be improved in the Leipzig Region.
Implementation: By the end of 2020, an agreement about incorporating tram and bus services, in addition to railway, in the whole are of the Leipzig transport association, was reached. However, the area was not extended to a 90 minute radius, as anticipated. Yet, another positive development was the launch of the MOVME-app for the entire Leipzig transport association in July 2020. A trip including various means of transport can be planned and tickets directly purchased in the app. It was funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and the Saxon State Office for Road Construction and Traffic.
Action 2: Extended shared bicycle
The modal split is foreseen to be improved and the usage of bike rentals increased in the City of Leipzig. This will be reached by offering more attractive services, e.g. extending the bicycle fleet of the monopolist for rental bicycles in Leipzig – nextbike – with child’s seats, e-bikes and cargo-bikes. In addition, inspired by the GP from Poland, the number of docking stations will be increased. These measures will improve the share of non-motorized transport.
Implementation: By the end of 2020, the bicycle fleet was extended to currently 900 bicycles. However, neither child’s seats, e-Bikes nor cargo-bikes were added to make the fleet more attractive. Currently, 22 of the intended 26 docking stations are in place.
Action 3: Multimodal road safety education
Practical road safety education is practiced in many primary schools and focuses on bicycle usage only. Yet, only the schoolyards are used for training and there is little to no exposure to actual road traffic. Also, the existing trainings neglect other means of non-motorized transport, such as E-bikes or E-scooters. By moving the trainings to the road and including other means of non-motorized transport, the usage of these sustainable transportation means will be fostered. This action was inspired by the GP from Spain.
Implementation: By the end of 2020, the guidebook “I wear a helmet”, from the German Traffic Observatory, was extended. In November 2020, sections educating about the road usage of e-scooters and cargo-bikes were added.
With one year remaining for the action plan implementation, Aufbauwerk is confident that further steps towards implementing the three actions will be taken, contributing to a reduction of CO2-emissions and sustainable mobility solutions in the Region of Leipzig.
