新冠疫情期间汽车减少，德国城市扩充自行车道

由于骑车上下班的人需要更多空间保持身体距离，德国城市重划道路标识，在新冠肺炎疫情封锁期间“扩充”自行车道。3月27日，柏林克罗伊茨贝格区地方政府尝试临时扩充两条自行车道，理由是在德国新冠肺炎疫情限制措施期间，路面汽车流量减少，扩充自行车道可以帮助骑车者按规定保持1.5米距离。

German cities are redrawing road markings to create "pop-up" cycle lanes for the duration of the Covid-19 lockdown, as cyclists demand more space to physically¹ distance on their commutes² to work.

 

 

Local authorities in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin trialled a temporary widening of two cycle lanes on 27 March, arguing it would help cyclists keep the required 1.5-metre distance apart while car traffic was down owing to Germany's coronavirus restrictions³.

 

On Friday, the council declared the pilot scheme a success because it had improved cycling safety while not hindering traffic. An expansion of the scheme on further roads in Kreuzberg, as well as in the Schöneberg and Tempelhof districts, is planned for the coming weeks.

 

The council said it had used removable tape and mobile signs to mark out the expanded lanes, which can be removed when the current restrictions on movement are lifted.

 

Residents in 133 other German cities have formally submitted applications for similar pop-up bike lanes to their local authorities on the back of a campaign by Environmental Action Germany (DUH), an environmental NGO.

 

The campaign group cites new research linking air pollution to higher coronavirus death rates as an argument for redrawing infrastructure⁴ across the country.

 

"The coronavirus is showing us that clean air is an indispensable asset," said DUH's chair, Jürgen Resch. "It is now especially important to temporarily make it more important for people to move safely on their bikes. This will help improve air quality, enable exercise in fresh air while keeping a safe distance and avoid unnecessary accidents."

 

Proponents⁵ of the scheme cite the Colombian capital, Bogotá, as the example to emulate⁶, where the mayor, Claudia López, opened up nearly 72 miles (117km) of new bike routes in mid-March in the hope of reducing congestion⁷ and person-to-person contact.

 

German states have encouraged the use of bicycles in spite of the current restrictions, under which gatherings⁸ of more than two people are banned, with exceptions for families.

 

"The use of a bicycle allows citizens to meet the requirements for minimising contact," a spokesperson for the transport ministry⁹ in Thuringia told the German news agency dpa.

 

In Germany, bike repair shops are currently exempt¹⁰ from state-ordered closures because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Three federal states, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, have also allowed bike vendors¹¹ to stay open.

 

 

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