Almost every Berlin motorist, cyclist, pedestrian and public transport user will be happy to confirm that Berlin has traffic problems. And unfortunately the new Senate is also threatening to get bogged down. Not only that, according to the red-green-red coalition agreement, the traffic administration has to push ahead with the planning of five underground lines, of which at least the lines to BER and to Heerstraße Nord are not urgently needed. The Senate should also deal with the question of whether and where additional cable car routes would be useful – which ties up additional capacities.
Late in the evening in a closed cabin alone with strangers
It is understandable why cable cars are a fashionable topic. Traveling silently through the air: It is reminiscent of a vacation in the mountains. Cable cars seem like an alpine-fresh alternative to the hackneyed mass transport options of rail and bus. Last but not least, the dashing cable cars do not disturb the traffic. No wonder that lobbyists manage to bring the topic up for discussion again and again – which is also necessary for manufacturers in view of stagnating demand in mountain areas.
But cable cars in Berlin would not solve any traffic problem. For the connections proposed so far, for example across the Havel and Dahme, no traffic volume would be expected, even with the greatest optimism, which would justify the investment and the dispute with residents, who will revolt against looking into their gardens, as well as nature conservationists. In Berlin’s exemplary networked local public transport system, they would be heavily deficient foreign objects that would require complex access structures with elevators and probably also staff. To be locked up for minutes in a closed cabin with unknown strangers late at night – that’s not for everyone.
You can talk about anything. But the bottom line is clear: Berlin doesn’t need any cable cars.
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