Dear S-Bahn-passengers, dear car drivers,

12.09.11 –

With our letters we would like to support your decision-making at the Berlin City parliament elections on September 18th. Please let yourself be convinced to cast your vote for the Greens!

Being mobile contributes to the quality of life. It is part of a dynamic metropolis like Berlin to roam the city unhindered.

We want everyone to get where they are going, safe and relaxed – and to affordable prices. Of course we favour environmentally friendly means of transportation: public transit, cycling and walking. Most of all, we promote equal rights for all  traffic participants – and by doing so, we hope to achieve more attentiveness in traffic for each other.

Dear S-Bahn-passengers, you are right: The current S-Bahn-situation is insufferable for a Berlin government! Therefore, we hold the opinion that trains and tracks need to be in public ownership. We will contract out parts of the S-Bahn-service – the bid goes to the best and most reliable provider. There is nothing less at stake than an infrastructure our city can count on.

Nothing beats the bike on the short distance. Therefore, we want to expand the bike lanes and bike ways in Berlin – with support from the European Union. Smart traffic routeing creates safer ways for bicyclists.

The ones who need a car need to be able to use it in the future as well. But: Cars are no longer the most used means of transportation. And to be honest: Do you really need your car 24/7? Why not consider alternatives like car sharing? We promise: We will improve the possibilities for mobility in a way which makes it hard for you to say No to clean and intelligent mobility.

We want traffic policies for the future in Berlin, which increase quality of life. That's why we oppose the further construction of the highway A100. It creates more problems than it solves. It is more important to renovate the roads we already have than to invest in Germany's most expensive roadway..

A future-proof car policy for the future requires smart organization of inner city traffic. We will set a speed limit of 30 km/h as default. This does not mean that we want this limit on every single road – main roads will still have a speed limit of 50 km/h – we simply adapt the general speed limit to the reality. A speed limit of 30 km/h is already set on three quarts of the Berlin road system. We will cut back on signs, confusions, noise, traffic jams and pollution.

In the end, we all profit from affordable, reliable and resource-friendly short-distance traffic. It means more mobility, cleaner air, less noise and pollution. To put it in a nutshell: a significantly improved

Let us walk new ways together to keep Berlin a mobile city!

Best regards,
Your Greens