New city councilor Saskia Ellenbeck will have fewer parking spaces
Berlin – She has no administrative experience, but moved directly from the ADFC cyclist lobby to the district office. She wants to work to ensure that gray streets are greened. SHE’s mission is to reduce the number of parking spaces in parking zones by ten percent, and it believes that higher residential parking fees for SUVs make sense. Saskia Ellenbeck represents a new type of transport policy actor in Berlin. For two weeks, the 38-year-old Green politician has been head of the Order, Roads, Green Areas, Environment and Nature Conservation department in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district office. To be City Councilor for Transport: “That means drilling thick boards.”
Saskia Ellenbeck can already boast a fan and critic for herself. “My seven-year-old son was delighted when he heard that his mother was going to be a city councilor,” she says. He is out on his bike and is annoyed by parking offenders who restrict his freedom of movement. “For him this is an important issue: the accessibility of public space for children.” Should more control, should the space be divided up differently? These are questions that are also being asked outside the family home in Britz – by more and more people.
“I have a lot of unrest myself”
In Tempelhof-Schöneberg, too, cyclists are calling for the mobility transition to finally make headway in the 350,000-inhabitant district in the south of Berlin. And faster than under Ellenbeck’s predecessor Christiane Heiss. The Green politician laid the foundations, but had to point out again and again that the administration in its current constitution simply cannot set the required pace. “The high standards are there, and I have them too,” says her successor. “I have a lot of unrest myself. The will to change is there. “
Before moving to the green swivel chair in room 313 in Tempelhof Town Hall, Saskia Ellenbeck worked for the Federal Association of the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC). Before that, she was at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research for almost five years. Like her counterpart Almut Neumann in Mitte, she represents a new generation of transport policy actors in Berlin. “More people than before are wondering whether the space on the streets is properly distributed. They don’t see mobility as a real technical issue, but as something that has to be negotiated within society. “
When does Tempelhofer Damm get protected cycle lanes?
Saskia Ellenbeck comes from a small town in the Eifel near Aachen. At 18 she got her driver’s license. But she also cycled a lot there. That changed when she left to study: political science, economics, sociology in Aachen, Bordeaux and Potsdam. “In Berlin, I didn’t dare to drive it in this city for a long time.” Today she even picks up the pedals for her daily commute to work. Since their two children were three years old, they have also been cycling a lot. The family also uses the bus and train – as well as their private car every now and then.
In her office, Saskia Ellenbeck keeps an eye on how much work lies ahead of her. From her desk she looks at a closet full of files with projects. An example: after years of effort, bicycle initiatives have achieved. that the district office provides the Tempelhofer Damm with protected cycle lanes. Now you ask why the work has still not started. “The project is on the way,” replies the new city councilor. “That will come.”
Was she before? More places to stay for pedestrians and green streets are important goals for them, says Saskia Ellenbeck. There will be more city squares that deserve the name. “Sometimes it is enough to clear an area of cars. But we’re also talking about the Sponge City, which is why it would make sense at one point or another to unseal street areas. ”For example, there would be space for green pedestrian areas. First the through traffic would be removed, then neighborhood blocks would arise. “More space could also be created in front of municipal buildings such as schools,” adds the district politician. She loves the pocket parks she saw in London.
For SUV & higher fees are paid than for small cars
The counting community of the SPD and the Greens in the district has agreed that ten percent of the parking spaces in parking zones will be used differently. “In the intersection areas, the first parking space could be rededicated to set up bicycle racks or to create space for e-scooters and rental bikes,” says Ellenbeck. But she also considers fees to be sensible: “For heavy vehicles or vehicles with large emissions, the tariff for the resident parking permit could be higher than for small cars.”
“Walking is the supreme discipline of mobility, but the most underrepresented way of getting around. Pedestrians and cyclists should by no means cannibalize each other, ”says Ellenbeck. But she does not yet know what it will look like in the autumn of the Hans-Baluschek-Park on the southern area, where a planned high-speed cycle path will dispute pedestrians.
As Saskia Ellenbeck in the ADFC war, she looked at young bicycle cities like Paris and London for the InnoRAD project. “We wanted to change so much in a short space of time, as they managed to do,” she says. They have learned that acceptance among the citizens arises when one emphasizes the usefulness of a measure for people – and does not talk about the effects on traffic.
“Don’t always plan the perfect solution straight away – just start”
Another insight is that one should not concentrate on complex civil engineering projects, but rather fast, agile problem solving: “Markings, de-dedications, the surface differently: Don’t always plan the perfect, big solution right away – just start.” Motto, says Saskia Ellenbeck. She now wants to discuss with her employees where to start.