More buses and trains and better conditions for pedestrians and cyclists - these are the goals of a planned referendum. According to the initiators, a first step has been taken.
Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - According to their own statements, the initiators of the planned referendum on traffic change in Hesse have reached the required number of valid signatures and thus cleared a first hurdle. This feedback was received from the state returning officer, said Ansgar Hegerfeld from the people's initiative for traffic change in Hesse on Sunday of the German Press Agency.
The Left Party faction had previously pointed out that the minimum quorum had been reached. "We congratulate the initiators of the collection of signatures on this success," said Torsten Felstehausen, parliamentary manager of the left-wing faction in the Hessian state parliament. The referendum is about good mobility for everyone, more traffic safety, a better quality of life in cities and communities and effective climate protection. "We agree with the initiators of the referendum that the proportion of environmentally friendly modes of transport must be increased drastically," says Felstehausen.
The state returning officer was initially unavailable for confirmation on Sunday. The aim of the referendum is a traffic turning law, with which mobility in Hesse is to be made climate-neutral and socially just by 2030. Cycle paths, footpaths and, above all, buses and trains are to be greatly expanded. The text of the law will now be examined in the next step, and it is assumed that it is permissible because several lawyers were involved, said Hegerfeld.
If the state returning officer declares the project permissible, the actual referendum begins with a new collection of around 218,600 signatures. If this succeeds, the state parliament must deal with the draft law. If there is no agreement here, a referendum is possible, in which the majority of those entitled to vote can pass the law.
As part of a large bicycle demonstration with thousands of participants at the end of August, the initiators handed over more than 70,000 signatures to the Hessian state government to get the project off the ground. According to Hegerfeld, the count ended at around 45,000 valid signatures because the required minimum quorum had been reached. A total number of valid signatures is therefore not known.
