Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan

Berlin is one step closer to banning most cars in an area larger than Manhattan, reports Patrick Maynard in Streetsblog USA.

“A decision on Wednesday by the Berlin Constitutional Court allows a long-stalled initiative by the advocacy group Volksentscheid Berlin Autofrei ("Ballot Measure for an Auto-Free Berlin) to continue gathering signatures for a referendum to create a zone in the center of the German capital that would be free of almost all private automobiles.” If the group is successful, the car-free area would cover the entire area bounded by the city’s 22-mile ring road.

The ban would allow residents to use private automobiles 12 times per year, and would include exceptions for people with disabilities, delivery vans, garbage trucks, and other service vehicles.