The Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil-Club (ADAC) has expressed opposition to the sale of Germany’s transportation infrastructure to private investors. “Roads are part of the country’s infrastructure and should remain in public ownership” said ADAC’s Traffic President Gerhard Hillebrand. The organization emphasized the need for a sustainable infrastructure policy that considers all modes of transportation and finds pragmatic solutions for increasing traffic flows.
The Union party has previously indicated its willingness to attract private investors to speed up the renovation of roads and bridges in Germany, with a focus on “strong incentives for private investors” mentioned in its election program. However, no concrete plan to sell transportation infrastructure has been announced.
According to the ADAC, a secured, multi-year infrastructure financing is necessary. “The large investment backlog in the autobahn and rail network will be further exacerbated by the lack of a federal budget this year, making it impossible to start new projects” Hillebrand said. This highlights the importance of multi-year investment security for federal transportation infrastructure, which would be independent of the annual budget law.
The ADAC’s traffic president also advocated for more targeted use of revenue from truck tolls. “A binding of the infrastructure component of the truck toll for federal highways would be a sensible basis” Hillebrand said. Currently, only half of the toll revenue is allocated for federal highways, with the other half going towards the mobility sector, mostly for rail infrastructure. Union candidate Friedrich Merz had previously expressed support for using toll revenue exclusively for roads in the future.
The ADAC believes that the burden on Germany’s transportation infrastructure will continue to increase in the coming years. “The 2040 federal transportation forecast shows very clearly that we need not only a stronger rail network, but also more efficient roads” Hillebrand said. The truck traffic is expected to grow by a third, without a decrease in passenger traffic, with a significant increase in traffic on federal highways anticipated. As a result, it is likely that more than 70 percent of goods traffic and 75 percent of passenger traffic will continue to be handled on the roads in the long term.
“The federal transportation and mobility plan for 2040 must focus not only on the rail network, but also on the development and modernization of the road infrastructure” the ADAC’s traffic president emphasized.