Issue of exhaust emissions Congestion charges rejected

Bonn · Many cities like Cologne have dismissed the issue of exhaust emissions – or not even checked them in the first place.

 Daily life on the Mülheimer bridge in Cologne – in all lanes cars are stuck in long queues.

Daily life on the Mülheimer bridge in Cologne – in all lanes cars are stuck in long queues.

Foto: dpa

Increased pollution levels, threats of traffic collapse, regulatory efforts – in this triad, the suggestion of a city congestion charge (the ‘Ci­ty-Maut’ in German) for traffic plagued cities seems appropriate. But the debate will for now remain a flash in the pan. A few days ago in Cologne, the city council decided not to introduce additional charges for car drivers.

Instead, along with the Cologne district government, the city council decided to develop a package of measures to reduce air pollution levels. The council stressed that the decision over the controversial congestion charges lies ultimately with the regulatory authorities. As reported, it was Cologne’s Head of Social Department Ha­rald Rau who had brought the issue of additional charges into play. He had held out on the prospect of this, and expected a ban on diesel vehicles for the coming year. The administration and large sections in politics were in agreement – in their surprise about the solo efforts of the department head. According to SPD criticism, both the charges and the ban would do damage to Cologne as a business location. The issue was then discussed even more controversially in the correspondence columns of the Cologne local press.

In Düs­sel­dorf, where the administrative court obligated the city council in 2016 to at least investigate a ban of vehicles in the city centre as part of their air pollution plan, the Ci­ty-Maut was not an issue in municipal politics. Meanwhile, in a project group of the district government, a ban on diesel vehicles is in further discussion. The background to this is an EU environmental regulation which stipulates that in the yearly average values, no more than 40mg nitrogen dioxide per cubic meter should be emitted into the air. In many cities, including Bonn, this upper limit is exceeded. The city council is tending not to press ahead with this issue at the moment because as the Environmental Agency informs, nationwide laws concerning a ban on vehicles or a congestion charge are lacking. Instead of introducing drastic measures such as a ban on vehicles, priority should be placed on pollution control at the source, i.e. dealing with traffic emissions.

In the meantime, the citizen’s initiative group for environmental protection in Bonn (Bürg­er­ak­ti­on Um­welt­schutz Bonn) are tireless in their efforts for ‘drastic measures’ – they are demanding an extension of the environmental zone to cover the whole of the city centre in Bonn and Beuel, the introduction of a congestion charge and a ‘blue plaque’ as an entry permit to the environmental zone, as well as a ‘drastic increase’ in parking fees and a restriction on parking in public spaces.

(Original text: Rüdiger Franz, Translation: Caroline Payne)

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