Is the traffic turnaround stuck in traffic jams? Moderator Anne Will discussed this question on Sunday evening in her talk show. It was a heated show that showed the ongoing election campaign – including “Welt” journalist Robin Alexander, who became more and more stunned as the show went on.
10:45 p.m .: You can also see here that there is an election campaign in Berlin. Whenever a political decision is criticized, the party representatives present are quick to blame their own party. And just when the debate is getting hot and hectic again, moderator Will ends the program – out of necessity – and hands over to the daily topics and Ingo Zamperoni. This ends our live ticker, thank you for your interest and wish you a good night!
10:42 p.m .: Alexander is stunned again. In Berlin, too much local transport is currently not working – but the 29-euro ticket in Berlin is “election campaign”. Then his favorite sentence falls again: “It can’t be that.” You can’t blame him.
10:41 p.m .: Dürr is already announcing that the 49-euro ticket will also become more expensive in the long term. For Diehl, such a ticket is more of a “please stay” to rail passengers who are considering switching to the car, rather than a real incentive for more rail traffic.
10:36 p.m .: The price of a Germany ticket – “9 euros are unbeatable,” says CDU man Frei – is of course only part of the solution to the problem. “It’s only useful if the bus and train are there too.” Many citizens would have used the ticket, but the absolute number of car journeys had not decreased. A “real switch” was therefore not achieved, criticizes Frei.
10:32 p.m .: Lang wants to break through the “tariff jungle” that currently exists in local public transport. The 49-euro ticket should help there. Will reads a study, according to which only 15 percent of those surveyed say they want to use the new ticket regularly. But Lang is certain: “This will be used significantly more”.
10:26 p.m .: Now Will directs the debate to the Germany ticket. “What did we experience with the train?” asks Alexander. “What was that horror?”. You can tell the journalist clearly how annoyed he is. German trains can’t go over 300 km/h, the WiFi often doesn’t work – and Alexander repeats his most frequently said sentence tonight: “It can’t be that.”
10:21 p.m .: Now it’s about the so-called company car privilege. Alexander is obviously not too keen on the debate either. “We’ve been talking about this for 20 years.” If the privilege were abolished, Alexander said, millions of Germans would keep logbooks again. “And do we seriously want to raise that as our idea against climate change?” asks a stunned Alexander.
10:20 p.m .: Lang now agrees to more conciliatory tones. “It would be a difficult task for every transport minister,” said the Greens leader, who speaks of a “mammoth task” in the traffic turnaround.
10:16 p.m .: “Politics are performing a theater that people don’t have at all,” criticizes Alexander. The “Welt” journalist is now getting a little angry, citing the example of a connection between Denmark and mainland Europe, which is now scheduled to start in 2029 instead of 2021. Instead of results, there are too many discussions that have often been heard, Alexander complains – even here on the show. “That can not be”.
10:12 p.m .: CDU man Frei sees “too much teaching” and calls for more “incentives”. Frei doesn’t think a speed limit is an option, and that’s where the debate gets heated. Diehl and Frei now clash. “Every car is bad for you,” Frei complains. Diehl contradicts this. “You can’t fundamentally say that cars are bad,” repeats Frei, Diehl contradicts again. The debate is not progressing, Will sees it that way too and straddles in between. Now journalist Alexander is allowed to speak again.
10:09 p.m .: The debate here is mainly between Dürr and Lang. We have also arrived at the “Du” between the coalition partners – also rather unusual in such talk shows.
10:06 p.m .: How do you make traffic more environmentally friendly? In addition to electric cars, FDP politician Dürr sees synthetic fuels as an option. Dürr names the green Minister of Transport from Baden-Württemberg, who had just requested this, and looks at Green leader Lang. She’s not convinced at all. “I think we have to see how seriously we conduct the debate.”
10:04 p.m .: For Diehl, the e-car is “the band-aid, not the operation” – meaning that only the symptoms are treated, but not the cause. In too many areas one is dependent on the car, criticizes the mobility consultant.
10:02 p.m .: “You would need massive investments in local public transport to really get people to change,” says CDU man Frei.
10 p.m.: Now Will also includes Diehl in the debate. It demands more efficiency when driving: “45 minutes a day with one person in the car, that’s more efficient.”
9:58 p.m .: So far it has been a very technical discussion with many small details. “Slowness is not an option,” warns FDP politician Dürr. But: “I admit that the FDP wants a little more speed than other parties.”
9:55 p.m .: FDP man Dürr lists some motorway projects that have already been decided – but are not progressing. “Someone has to explain to me how the climate is helped if we are slower here.”
9:53 p.m .: Now “Welt” journalist Robin Alexander is also in the conversation. He predicts a more intensive debate – but only after the Berlin elections, where one “wants to protect the green core electorate”.
9:51 p.m .: Frei calls the “legacy of Andreas Scheuer” a “successful” – and elicits an astonished “really?” But the topic is pushed aside.
9:49 p.m .: “More cars lead to more traffic,” Will sums up and speaks to Frei, representative of the self-proclaimed climate protection party CDU. He calls for recognizing differences between metropolitan areas and the country.
9:46 p.m .: “The whole world has understood that there is a climate crisis, only the FDP wants to build ten-lane motorways,” Will starts the conversation provocatively. FDP representative Dürr wants to “become faster everywhere”, including the motorways. Green leader Lang calls for “setting priorities”. “When I prioritize everything, I don’t prioritize anything,” says Lang.
9.45 p.m .: Here we go! As always, the show begins with an introduction by presenter Will. This sums up the traffic turnaround in Germany quite simply: “The traffic lights are currently slowing themselves down.”
9:41 p.m .: The last scenes from the crime scene are running, then it starts with “Anne Will”.
8 p.m.: Welcome to the live ticker from FOCUS online. From 9.45 p.m., Anne Will will discuss the traffic turnaround in Germany with her guests – and the question of whether that traffic turnaround is stuck in traffic jams. Guests are:
