COVID has forced all of us to wear masks. Here in Berlin and all over the world.
People in Delhi have long been used to wearing masks to protect themselves from the city's deadly smog.
Heavy smog is common in India. In fact, Indian cities are regularly ranked as having
some of the world's most polluted air, in part because of dense traffic.
That's bad news for our warming planet and our health.
Is there anything my homeland India can learn from Germany
when it comes to green transportation?
Or is the difference between the two countries too great? Certainly, there are many differences.
16 times more people live in my homeland than in Germany! India has about 1.39 billion inhabitants,
while Germany has "only" 83 million.
But when it comes to protecting the environment we all have a job to do!
We need to work together and, if possible,
learn from each other. One solution to combat increasing air pollution
in Indian cities is green transportation. Let's see what Germany is doing to make public
transport greener and help cut back on emissions.
Join us on our series, a collaboration between DW Travel and DW Hindi,
exploring ways to make transportation and travel better for the planet.
For episode 1, we're out and about in Berlin, Germany's capital.
And it's my first time in Berlin.
I want to find out what the city is getting
right in terms of eco-friendly transport for both Berliners and tourists.
Germany is a car-loving country. This might sound like a cliché, but the numbers speak for themselves:
There are just under 50 million registered
cars in Germany. That's 10 times more than 50 years ago. It is clear that this is not
helping the the environment. About 43 million of the registered cars are privately owned.
Statistically speaking, every second German has a car.
In India, by the way, the figure is "only" 0.05 vehicles per person, just under 70 million cars in total.
The amount of Nitrogen dioxide would certainly
be reduced if fewer people had their own cars. Car sharing is one option. At the beginning
of 2021, Germany had about 2.87 million car sharing users and the number is still growing.
Car sharing has become increasingly popular, and Berlin is the car sharing capital of Europe.
Yet in 2021, only 1 in 10 of the city's rental cars was electric. Across Germany, however,
18.5% of rentals were electric cars. Unlike in Hamburg or Munich, car sharing companies
in Berlin must pay parking fees for their electric fleet. This, plus the high cost of
the cars and their maintenance makes it unprofitable.
So what's the greenest way to get around Berlin?
Let's see!
By public transport!
It's a win for our planet and our lungs.
Research shows that public trains and busses leave a relatively low carbon footprint.
In Delhi, a city of 30 million people, one
of the most popular forms of public transportation is the Metro. Before the pandemic, approximately
600,000 people every day took the Delhi Metro. Just like Delhis Metro, Berlin's subway is also very popular.
BVG, the agency responsible for public transport in Berlin,
has made using the U-Bahn or any other means of public transport increasingly
more accessible in the digital age. Download the BVG app, buy a ticket online and hop aboard.
But riding the S-Bahn and U-Bahn in Berlin isn't always a joy. It can get very crowded during
the rush hours in the morning and after work. In total, Berlin's U-Bahn and S-Bahn include
27 lines that run on 432 kilometers of track and serve 307 stations.
Plus 22 tram lines. By the way Berlin has the third largest tram network in the world.
And there are also 201 Bus lines. The number of battery powered buses in Berlin
is growing steadily. The fleet will grow to 228 electric buses which includes 90 new buses
bought by BVG just at the end of December. The public transportation system is interconnected.
For example, if you buy a 3 Euro ticket, you can go in one direction for a limited amount
of time and switch to a tram or bus, as you please.
It's no problem to switch between different forms of transportation. You can first take
a bus, then jump onto a tram or hop on a local train.
There are even discounted travel tickets for tourists, like the Berlin Welcome Card.
There are several types of Berlin Welcome Card. You can choose the time period and the routes.
The price depends on the period of validity.
For 48 hours you pay 24 euros for the AB ticket. A 6-day Berlin Welcome Card costs 50 euros.
By German standards, Berlin is a very large city. It spans 45 kilometres from west to east,
and 38 kilometres from north to south. If you must travel longer distances in Berlin,
there are two alternatives: car sharing or taking a taxi. With over 8,000 cabs in the city,
Berlin is the taxi capital of Germany. However, taxis are expensive compared to public transportation.
The distance between Alexanderplatz to Potsdamer Platz is only 3.6 kilometers.
But it took around 20 minutes in a cab and costs 10 euros.
Of course it depends on the traffic! Berlin is the traffic jam capital of Germany.
On the subway, it would only take 11 minutes and you wouldn't have to worry about traffic jams.
Another green and healthy way to get around
Berlin is cycling. Since the beginning of the pandemic, bike sales have skyrocketed.
In 2020, bicycle traffic increased by 22 percent in Berlin compared to the previous year.
Yet more bike lanes are needed. The infrastructure does not yet match the cycling boom.
For many years, Berlin bike lovers have been staging a monthly bicycle rally to fight for
greater recognition. They call on politicians to add more bike lanes and add bike parking
facilities, among other things.
These demands make a lot of sense! Even if you don't have a bike of your own,
you can easily rent one and cycle around Berlin.
There are many options to choose from. You can find bicycles for rent all over Berlin.
There are more than enough bikes to go around. You can also hire a bike on a monthly basis
from Dunkel Republic or Swapfiets. The company takes care of repairs and maintenance
How convenient!
Bikes are a great way to avoid overcrowded public transport.
In India, riding bikes is much riskier than in Berlin. Delhi has a few rental bikes projects,
but this hasn't caught on with the general public. But maybe this is set to change.
In Berlin, tourists and locals alike can make use of the many e-scooters parked around the city.
5 different companies offer shared electric scooters.
They can be conveniently rented via app and are best used for short distances.
However, you can't ride them on sidewalks or in pedestrian zones. You can be fined for doing so.
You can find many of them standing around
Berlin or at various collection centres. You can ride the scooters within certain zones
that vary based on the provider. You typically pay 15 to 20 cents per minute and an unlocking
fee of 1 euro. The range is up to 25 kilometers.
People called Juicers or Rangers ensure that
the batteries are full. They find e-scooters low on battery, collect them and charge them
overnight and distribute them again the next day at the various parking spots.
Are E-scooters really as eco friendly as claimed? It is still not clear. Research suggests the
manufacturing, maintenance and recharging causes more damage to the environment than
for example e-mopeds which are booming in India.
Whether it's due to rising oil prices or pollution concerns, interest in e-scooters has increased
in India. Indian Ridesharing company Ola recently launched electric scooters and more than 100,000
people pre-booked these e-scooters within 24 hours of its launch.
Back to Berlin. Which brings us to our final recommendation.
It's a way to get around Berlin that's not only green and healthy, but also free: that's walking!
As one of the greenest cities in Europe, Berlin is perfect for discovering on foot! It's great
exercise, too. In most Indian cities, traffic and air pollution make walking an unpopular option.
Of course not all of Berlin's transportation
methods can be applied directly to the Indian context. But we hope learning about them will
inspire people to use more eco friendly travel options.
And that concludes the first episode of our series on eco-friendly travel.
We hope it has sparked your interest, and given you some ideas for reducing your own carbon
footprint whether you re on holiday, or your daily commute.
See you next time and don't forget to follow DW Travel, DW Hindi and me, Swati!