Our targets for the transformation of the transport sector

Car traffic today accounts for over 60 percent of CO2 emissions from transport. While almost 20 percent of new vehicle registrations in 2021 were electric, they accounted for only around one percent of the total cars on the road. If the proportion of electric cars in new registrations can be increased to roughly 100 percent year on year by 2030, one third of all cars on the roads will be electric (only accounting for the electric component of plug-in hybrids). This is comparable to the federal target of 15 million battery-powered electric cars.

In the meantime, approximately two million private and public charging points will have to be created. In addition, approximately five terawatt hours of renewable electricity is needed, equivalent to 8 percent of the total electricity consumption in BW today.

This change will not be achieved through EU fleet targets alone. Locally and regionally, tangible benefits such as electric vehicle driving lanes and zero emissions zones should encourage e-car ownership. For the remaining fossil-fuelled cars, the absolute amount of biofuel blends will not increase, but gain relative importance as the electrification of the fleet reduces fossil fuel kilometres. Electric drives and biofuels will thus reach 50 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040.

In 2022, there are 6.9 million registered cars in Baden-Württemberg. Without any reform, this figure would increase by a further 500,000 by 2030. In cities in particular, there is considerable scope for a shift from car travel to rail, bus, bike and foot. This is more difficult in rural areas, but even here there is a will to do away with the second or third car if there are good alternatives. Overall, instead of a 10 percent increase, car traffic can be reduced by 10 percent by 2030 compared to 2010 through modal shift.

The last few years have shown that, in addition to a modal shift, some of the remaining car traffic can become redundant through options such as working from home.

• More people spending more days working from home means fewer journeys to work. Business trips can also increasingly be substituted by remote communication.
• A growing interest in regional leisure activities also reduces car traffic. This can save around 10 percent of total car kilometres.
• Combined with the modal shift mentioned above, there would be 20 percent fewer vehicles on the road.
• There is a significant difference between urban and rural areas however, with 50 percent fewer vehicles in cities and 10 percent fewer in rural areas. This would improve quality of life in both the city and the countryside and enable people to live with fewer cars.

By 2040, further increases in walking, cycling, travel by rail and bus as well as working from home and remote business meetings would result in 30 percent fewer vehicles on the road. This is the prerequisite for powering the rest of the fleet with 100 percent renewable energy.

In freight transport, the goal remains to shift as much traffic as possible to rail and inland waterways because these modes consume less energy per tonne and kilometre. In addition, the railways are already mostly electric and are thus considered a climate-neutral form of transport. To facilitate this, a truck toll is to be introduced on state and municipal roads. However, this modal shift has its limits, partly because of the long planning and construction times.

Therefore, there is to be a gradual increase in the registrations of climate-neutral vehicles, primarily electric vehicles but also hydrogen-powered ones.

• The number of new climate-neutral registrations should reach roughly 100 percent by 2030 for vans and from 2033 onwards for trucks.
• By 2030, electric vehicles will represent 30 percent of truck-kilometres, which is comparable to the federal target, while hydrogen-powered vehicles will represent 13 percent, for which climate protection-oriented competition conditions and a nationwide refuelling and charging infrastructure are to be created.
• Renewable synthetic fuel will also be used alongside biofuel. A total of 50 percent of tonne-kilometres in freight transport will thus be climate neutral by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040.
• Approximately nine terawatt hours of renewable electricity will be needed by 2030, which is equivalent to 14 percent of the total electricity consumption in Baden-Württemberg today.

To achieve the modal shift from cars to public transport, improvements are required in the public transport offering and capacities. Public transport is to be doubled compared to 2010 by 2030, and tripled by 2040. The required approach is elaborated in the public transport strategy 2030.

It includes, among other things,

• a mobility guarantee, guaranteeing service at least every half an hour for all locations from 5:00 a.m. to midnight,
• attractive ticket prices,
• vehicles that offer sufficient capacity,
• adaptation and expansion of infrastructure,
• flexible and demand-oriented services to ensure a mobility guarantee in off-peak times and less populated regions.

By 2030, the share of trips by bike should have increased from 10 percent to 20 percent and those done walking from 21 percent to 30 percent and be maintained at this level until 2040.

For this purpose, …

• the cycle path network is being systematically expanded and supplemented by 20 express cycle paths.
• Bike & Ride parking spaces in the state are to be doubled.
• the successful RadKULTUR (cycling culture) communication for commuters is to be rolled out to other target groups such as schoolchildren.
• footpath networks with minimum widths, pedestrian-friendly traffic lights, consistent penalties for parking violations and ‘compact cities’ with vibrant, traffic-calmed town centres will make walking more attractive. Where everyday journeys can be made on foot or by bicycle, this automatically results in fewer kilometres being travelled by car, further reducing the burden on the climate.