In Berlin, cyclists should be able to park their bikes free of charge from January. The same applies to motorcycles, mopeds and e-scooters. At the same time, parking fees for cars are to be raised – one euro more per fee level. This was announced by the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Mobility, Consumer and Climate Protection on Tuesday.

This is primarily intended to free footpaths from bicycles and other small vehicles such as e-scooters, where they would become obstacles, according to the Senate's traffic management department. "The goal of our entire mobility revolution is that we distribute public space differently: more space for the environmental network, less space for cars." said Transport Senator Bettina Jarasch (Greens) to rbb. While it should still be possible to park bicycles on sidewalks, according to Jarasch, e-scooters should disappear completely from sidewalks after a transitional period. After that, they should only be parked at collection points and parking lots.

However, there are some subtleties in the new parking regulation that must be observed, as the "Berliner Zeitung" reports: If bicycles are parked in parking lots in the dark, for example, they must be continuously illuminated. Parking in the second row is also not permitted for bicycles, motorbikes, mopeds or e-scooters.

Reactions to the project have been divided. While some users on Twitter praise the decision as a contribution to the traffic turnaround, there are also doubts about the implementation. Many point out that the parked bicycles could be stolen so easily because there is nowhere to connect them directly, or that angry drivers could simply put them away if they wanted to park themselves.

The parliamentary group leader of the Berlin CDU, Kai Wegner, also criticized in the rbb24 evening show that the project would contribute to "opposition" in road traffic, because it was "exclusively to the detriment of motorists." Traffic Senator Bettina Jarasch said: "I don't expect that many bicycles will be parked in parking lots," she quotes the "Berliner Zeitung". In principle, all vehicles would of course have to be parked to save space.

Sources: Berliner Zeitung I, Berliner Zeitung II, rbb24, Twitter