One billion euros to avoid driving bans

Germany’s federal government, the states, and its municipalities have agreed on a fund worth one billion euros to invest in measures to prevent a looming driving ban in many of the country’s inner cities, the government says in a press release. Representatives of over 30 municipalities with high levels of air pollution met with Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss how a ban, which could be issued by a court in February, can still be avoided. “We’re running out of time,” Merkel said, announcing that an ad-hoc programme will make funds available “as off tomorrow”. The money will be used on the electrification of vehicles such as public buses and digitalisation measures in traffic management systems in communities with high nitrogen oxide emissions, a paper by the chancellery states. The Chancellor reiterated after the summit that it was in the “highest interest” to avoid diesel car driving bans in German cities.

Find the press release in German here.

See CLEW’s Dieselgate timeline for background.