15 hours ago
Major European capital is set to 'BAN cars' in bid to tackle its gridlock
Berlin is looking to ban cars driving in the city almost completely in efforts to overcome its gridlock traffic.
A high court has ruled that people living in the German capital can vote next year on whether they should forbid most vehicles from passing through after years of campaigning.
If passed, this would see drivers only being allowed to drive into the city centre 12 days of the year.
However, the ban would exempt emergency services, taxis, buses, delivery vehicles and public service vehicles like rubbish collectors.
Cars would also be allowed to still use the 'car-reduced' zone on federally-run highways.
The 'car-free Berlin' campaign group proposed a referendum after gathering thousands of signatures but were blocked by the city government in 2022.
They argued that the proposal violated the German constitution but this was dismissed in Berlin's high court yesterday.
The judge said that the referendum can go ahead if it meets all the usual requirements - namely, gathering 170,000 signatures, or seven per cent of the Berlin electorate, in the next three month.
A high court has ruled that people living in the German capital can vote next year on whether they should forbid most vehicles from passing through after years of campaigning
More than 50,000 signatures have already been provided when the proposal first went to court in 2022.
If completed, the choice will make it onto the ballot paper for next year's local elections.
It will then need to be voted in by at least half of voters representing a quarter of all eligible voters.
Berlin is not the only European city to have made efforts to ban cars.
Amsterdam has slowly been phasing out cars in an attempt to completely eradicate them in the city by 2030.
From 2020, they banned diesel cars older than 15 years inside an environmental zone, which was extended to public and private buses two years later.
This year, mopeds and motorcycles will also be banned.
Zermatt in Switzerland has banned private cars while Pontevedra in Spain has pedestrianised a large section of its city centre.
Venice has also typically always been car-free thanks to its many canals that run through the city.
