If you want to get away from the car but enable mobility, you have to promote the alternatives: Walking, cycling and public transport. Pedestrians need space as well as safe and barrier-free connections. They often look for quiet zones and are happy about quick crossing possibilities in contact with bicycle and car traffic. Cyclists, on the other hand, need sufficiently wide paths that connect all important destinations, towns and districts, facilities, etc. without the traffic that is particularly dangerous for them. Where they cross motor roads, speedy and safe crossings are also necessary – ideally with right of way for two-wheelers. In addition, cyclists will be pleased about good parking facilities, cargo bike rental systems and many other small-scale improvements. The space needed for better walking and cycling conditions can only be gained from the street space previously reserved for cars. A traffic turnaround must therefore massively restrict car traffic and at least ban it completely from sensitive zones such as town centres and around primary schools, kindergartens, hospitals, etc. The situation with public transport is more complicated.

The situation with public transport is more complicated. Many different measures are needed here. The first is similar to what is needed for walking and cycling: space – for fast transit (dedicated lanes), for more stops, for comfortable, covered and barrier-free boarding and transfer zones, and much more. Then many lines must be strengthened and routes newly created or reactivated. Intelligent concepts are also needed for connecting peripheral areas so that people there are not left hanging or dependent on their cars. Public transport as a whole must become more efficient if it is to really attract relevant numbers of people away from the car. All this leads to a clear conclusion: public transport must rely on an efficient and convenient system – and that is rail transport, in the form of trams or the special form of the RegioTram. Those who rely only on buses, shared taxis, etc. may mean well. But all these types of vehicles do nothing more than provide feeder services and close gaps.

This information is not intended to show that a traffic turnaround must lead away from the car. That is assumed. The fatal effects of cars in terms of land consumption, accident hazards, particulate matter from tyre and brake wear, raw material consumption in production, noise and much more are well known and would not change by switching to a different engine. Only a move away from the car can help.

Instead, this page aims to justify why the tram must play the most important role in strengthening public transport. It is far superior in terms of performance, comfort, space saving and low emissions.