City concept: Car-free inner city with 16 exceptions

In June, Vice Mayor and City Councilor for Transport, Birgit Hebein (Greens), presented the concept for a traffic-calmed city center together with City District Manager Markus Figl (ÖVP). The first draft is available today.

INNER CITY. According to Hebein, Vienna should be the first traffic-calmed city in the German-speaking area. The green city councilor wants a car-free city center before the Vienna election on October 11th. Today she presented the first draft of the traffic concept.

16 exceptions are to apply for entry into the city center. Originally were 20 to 30 exceptions planned. The concept has ensured since the beginning hot discussions.

Driving ban in Vienna’s city center

As a first step, the number of car journeys in the city center is to be reduced by around a quarter. No impact is expected in the surrounding districts. “Because every car that does not drive into the city is one less car that has to drive through the surrounding districts,” explains Birgit Hebein. There are a few in the traffic concept Opinions has been taken into account. This includes, for example, carrying out loading activities without time restrictions or delivering drugs to pharmacies.

Those residents who have a car with a valid parking sticker are allowed to enter the first district. Exceptions also apply to people who do not live there but who meet certain requirements. In addition to taxis and emergency vehicles, this also includes companies in the first district whose employees work at night. Access is still granted for suppliers, hotel guests, representatives, vehicles of the road service, but also vehicles of the embassies and Austrian Post AG. The situation looks different for lawyers, politicians and real estate agents. According to the plans, parents are no longer allowed to bring their students to school by car. Parents who have a car with a valid parking sticker are of course excluded.

Examination of the traffic concept

The next step will be an evaluation process carried out by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Department for Space, Landscape, Infrastructure – Institute for Transport). As soon as the concept is in force, it will be evaluated after six months in order to make further adaptations if necessary.

Before the concept can be implemented, lawyers in the town hall have to check the whole thing and ultimately give Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) his okay. For that it has to in the district give a “sustainable majority”. Ludwig also emphasizes that approval “by those who bear responsibility in the economy” is necessary.

Hebein wants to implement traffic calming within the next three weeks. Ludwig classifies the project as “not very realistic”. One thing is certain: Hebein wants to realize the car-free city center before the Vienna election. A traffic decrease of up to 30 percent in the car-free city is expected.

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