News: In federal politics, "Die Linke" is always good for one or the other stir. Recently, the parliamentary group in the Bundestag attracted attention with an alternative proposal to the scrapping bonus 2.0 brought into play by the automotive industry. You could call it a pedal premium.
Sensational campaign with a bland aftertaste
What the pedal bonus is about is shown by a picture distributed on the Internet by party MPs: You can see a woman in a bright red vest with a proudly swollen breast, posing in a heroic pose in front of an East Socialist backdrop of Alexanderplatz with a bicycle. Even if the presentation rather awakens old bugbears, there is a charming pro-bicycle campaign at its core.
After all, the message between the lines is: "Anyone who avoids public transport because of the corona pandemic should rather use a bicycle than a car". That sounds logical – but you don't have to fall back into old patterns right away. Nevertheless, the campaign is a successful tip in the direction of the Greens. After all, the Green Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Kretschmann, is in favor of a premium for the purchase of combustion engines.
The shoe pinches elsewhere
The "pedal bonus" provides for a payment of 200 euros per citizen who avoids public transport in favor of the bicycle. The premium should be used for the purchase as well as for repairs and maintenance. Everyone would be eligible – even the otherwise scolded big earners. However, there are a few stumbling blocks in terms of implementation. It's not just about the costs of a slim 300 million euros. No wonder the proposal has met with harsh criticism.
Not only from the FDP and the Union, but also from the Greens. All parties agree on the usefulness of promoting cycling. But the “how” can be debated. As the traffic policy spokesman for the Greens Stefan Gelbhaar reports, there is no lack of bicycles in Germany, but of cycle paths, cycle bridges and a suitable one in general
cycling infrastructure.
And this is exactly where the shoe pinches for most cyclists in this country rather than on the pedal. At the same time, one could also criticize that a pedal bonus falls into the same drawer as the scrappage bonus demanded by the automotive industry. Even viewed through cycling glasses, a freely usable mobility premium would be the fairest option for all German citizens.