"We want to be a role model for other cities"
Düsseldorf wants to be climate neutral by 2035. Transport, with a share of around one third of CO2 emissions, is an important factor in achieving this goal. In our interview, Jochen Kral, head of the city's mobility department, explains the measures aimed at achieving the transport transformation.
Mr. Kral, what are your most important plans to specifically manage car traffic in the city?
For a climateneutral Düsseldorf, a particularly important component is electrification. We are happy to try out fuel cell related electrification because we want to promote hydrogen, but the way forward at the moment is clearly battery-related electrification.
As the largest employer, we as a city would like to take on a pioneering role ourselves by successively electrifying our vehicle fleet. In the private car sector, this is relatively easy, but it is more challenging with maintenance vehicles, for example. These normally have a weight limit of 3.5 tonnes in order to be driven with a regular driving licence. If we equip them with electric batteries, then they can charge less to comply with the weight limit – and if they weigh more than 3.5 tonnes, a truck driver's licence would be necessary. There are still solutions to be found.
Together with the municipal utilities, we also have the goal of realising 300 e-charging stations per year in the city area – in this regard, we are well on our way. In the near future, I am sure, these e-stations will be much more powerful and charging times will be a lot less, e.g. 20 to 30 minutes for a full charge.
How do you want to tackle the issue of parking?
We want to create space for all modes of transport and accommodate more stationary traffic in private spaces. We will try and be really creative, for example with supermarkets, with our own municipal properties and with office space providers. And we will look for answers to the question: when and where do we have parking spaces that are free or underused and that can be activated as appropriate? Edeka-Paschmann is an excellent example of residents' parking that already works today.
„For a climateneutral Düsseldorf, a particulary important component is electrification“
Public transport has another important role to play in the transformation of transport; its share of the transport volume is to increase from currently 21 percent to 24 percent in 2030. What measures do you want to use to achieve this?
The “RheinTakt” is an approach to rebuild and structure the Rheinbahn timetable with two objectives: firstly, that the network will become more comprehensible and secondly, that we improve the transfer possibilities and adjust the performance in transport. We also want to optimise the bus network. In terms of infrastructure, we are pushing ahead with the big U81 project. It is the first light rail connection that will not run through the city centre, but tangentially – in its final extension from Neuss via Lörick, via the trade fair centre, via the airport to Ratingen. This has the advantage of attracting people to use the metro whose needs so far were not addressed at all. In my opinion, traffic in Düsseldorf always reaches a limit when large crowds are densely gathering in one place – for example, when we have a large trade fair or the Christmas market in the city centre. Traffic can be much better managed when it is spread out over a larger area. And the U81 fits in wonderfully with this, because it relieves the inner city of congestion.
In addition to the needs of cyclists, the needs of pedestrians must also be taken into account. What is planned here?
At the moment we have a tender underway to hire a pedestrian officer for the city who will then roll out certain measures more widely across the city. One such measure are the so-called neighbourhood zones. We want to try to reduce traffic in small residential streets, where residents are keen to do so, by installing fixtures at the roadside to ensure greater road safety.
I would also like to expand the use of zebra crossings a lot more. I think zebra crossings are an amazingly safe and comfortable construction: pedestrians have the right of way over motorists and still don't have to wait long. For even more accessibility, we also want to reduce the number of scooter providers from the current five to two or three. There will be a tender for this this year.
Jochen Kral, head of the mobility department, uses an e-bike instead of a company car for his business trips.
A lot of lorries and vans are on Düsseldorf's roads every day. What is planned to make freight transport in the city even more efficient?
We are currently working on a city logistics concept in close cooperation with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Chamber of Trade, the District Chamber of Trade and several logistics companies. An important goal here is for the logistics companies to have reliable points of contact in the city area where they can complete their loading and unloading operations. Ideally, this should be on the premises of the supplier. However, this is often not possible due to the structures of the city centre in Düsseldorf. That's why we are taking a closer look: where are areas that can be kept free for at least a certain time of the day?
There is also the question of whether we could do this electronically. In other words, we could book the loading area digitally, which would then be reserved and a recording device would also check that no unauthorised person is parking in the loading area. It is also important to further develop the existing goods transfer stations in the city. These are very effective because logistics companies can drive directly to them and a recipient does not have to be on site. We are also looking for further solutions in the electrification of freight transport, in my opinion there is still a lot of potential here.
With 20 million euros in funding from the state of NRW, Multi-Mo-DUS is currently the largest mobility project in Düsseldorf. What exactly is behind it?
Multi-Mo-DUS is a unique pilot project in NRW. In the high-density districts of Pempelfort, Derendorf and Golzheim, located north of the city centre, we will bundle various mobility services, as we did previously in Unterbilk and Friedrichstadt. A total of 18 so-called mobility stations will offer an attractive alternative to transport by car. In this way, we want to demonstrate synergy effects and, as the state capital, also be a role model for other cities in NRW. In addition, the cycling infrastructure in these areas will be further expanded, for example through cycle lanes, collective garages and bike and ride facilities at bus stops. The Rheinbahn will also test new and innovative types of stations with greenery and solar roofs, and citizens can use digital tools to report their needs, which will be taken into account in the planning process as far as possible. •
Words Tom Corrinth
Pictures PR