By Gunnar Schupelius
Politicians have ignored and forgotten that service providers cannot work without a parking space, says Gunnar Schupelius.
The red-green-red Senate had set itself the goal of reducing the number of parking spaces. The roadside should no longer be available for parked cars, but for bicycle lanes, bus lanes, bicycle racks or even benches and tables. In this way, the area on the street will be “distributed more fairly”, explained the Green Transport Senator Bettina Jarasch.
It was forgotten or ignored how important parking spaces are, not only for private cars, but above all for the service providers. Craftsmen, for example, who have to drive to the customer with their equipment, are having increasing problems reaching their customers.
A mechanic reported to his shift manager: “I’ve been driving around the block for 30 minutes, no chance!” The shift manager: “I drove in circles for 15 minutes, then we’ll tell the customer.”
The boss of a larger workshop writes to me: “We need several devices on site, each weighing up to 30 kilos, which are relatively expensive.” If he cannot find a parking space in front of the customer’s house, he would have to unload the devices and look for a parking space . That’s impossible, because then a second employee would have to guard equipment and material until the colleague has found a parking space and walked back to the site. “No client pays me this additional effort,” writes the entrepreneur.
And then there’s another big problem: If colleagues can’t find a decent parking space, they might not park the car in accordance with the traffic regulations in order to meet the customer’s appointment. Then the regulatory office strikes.
But if you collect too many fines in this way over the month, at some point the work will no longer be worthwhile. Then the employees threaten the boss with dismissal. What should he do?
The last possibility would be the restricted stopping ban. You can apply for this “for loading activities” (e.g. weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Processing time: at least one week. Fee for two signs placed 20 meters apart, for example: 110.20 euros.
Is this the solution? Of course not. How does that work? A ban on stopping for every customer appointment? And so the bitter conclusion is: politics damages business: fewer parking spaces, less work. “We’ve had to turn down several orders in the Kantstraße area, in the Hackescher Markt area or around the main train station,” the company boss wrote to me.
The Berlin Mobility Act states: “Commercial traffic should be organized in a way that is compatible with the city and at the same time ensure the supply of Berliners.” There can be no question of that.
The new Transport Senator Manja Schreiner (CDU) wants to revise the law and “make adjustments”. She should think first of those who are losing orders, money and jobs because they can no longer park.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153 or email: [email protected]
Read all of Gunnar Schupelius’ columns here