As reported by the SZ and elsewhere this week, a new study on traffic in Munich shows some positive signs. Released on 15 October, the main take-away is that while the number of car journeys in the city is continuing to decrease, more environmentally friendly modes of transport are increasing.
The Technical University of Dresden carried out the vast study, which included around 500 German cities, towns and localities, and around 40,000 people in Munich took part. So, what did it reveal? In 2023, of those surveyed:
76% of journeys were on foot, bike or public transport (all more environmentally friendly than private car, for example)
Munich had fewer journeys by motorised private transport than other comparable major cities
Münchners are increasingly making journeys on foot or bike
They are more flexible in choosing their modes of transport, with 62% using multimodal transport, meaning using two or three modes in a week (up from 53% in 2017)
Around 22% car share, 12% use rental bikes and 18% E-scooters
Almost 90% of Münchners surveyed have a driving licence, though this is changing, with only 77% of men and 81% of women between the ages of 18 and 29 having one
Regarding households:
Around 66% have a car and 81% a bike (and an average of 2.13 bikes per household)
Around 7% of cars and 9% of bikes are electric
49% of single-person households do not own a vehicle
And it seems that the introduction of the Deutschland Ticket in May 2023 has helped boost public transport use:
People with a season ticket jumping from 48% to 56%. Curiously, overall public transport use is down from 24% to 22%, likely because people are sick of the frequent delays and cancellations that regularly affect S-Bahns and U-Bahns.
Dieter Reiter, Munich mayor, commented that, ‘The results show that our mobility policy is having an impact and that we are on the right track in Munich. However, a genuine mobility transition cannot be achieved by promoting certain modes of transport in isolation, but above all by continuously improving local public transport as a genuine alternative to the car. It is important to me that we also continue to strengthen pedestrian traffic and treat each other with respect – that is the basis for a transport policy that works in the long term.
And city mobility officer Georg Dunkel, said: ‘For our daily work, it is very important to know and understand the mobility behaviour of Munich's residents in detail – so that we can then design the infrastructure and services to suit people's mobility behaviour and needs, for example. I am particularly pleased that we are performing so well in Germany-wide comparisons in areas such as electrification and sharing. The fact that we are so close to achieving the goal we set ourselves in our mobility strategy, namely that 80 per cent of journeys made by Munich's population will be made using environmentally friendly modes of transport by 2025, shows that we are on the right track.’
While broadly being ‘on the right track’ is the line most officials are taking, Munich lags far behind the best European cities when it comes to an integrated public transport system, including its pretty average cycle lane network.
Nevertheless, the city’s Green party broadly agrees with the ‘on track’ line, with Gudrun Lux, spokesperson for mobility policy for Die Grünen/Rosa Liste/Volt, saying: ‘To make our city future-proof, we have initiated many transport transition projects over the past five years. The figures show us that we are on the right track. More journeys are being made on foot than ever before. Our goal is the five-minute city, and we have already largely achieved the 15-minute city. Munich residents are also travelling further and further by bicycle. This encourages us to provide better and safer infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.’