Cyclists on Frankfurter Allee in the direction of Frankfurter Tor Photo: picture alliance / PIC ONE | Ben Krieman
By Stephen Peter
The other night I was sitting in the tram, wanting to go to Prenzlauer Berg for a date. At the intersection of Eberswalder Strasse and Schönhauser Allee, it was suddenly over:
A bike demonstration blocked the tracks for a good 20 minutes and thus the onward journey.
Since the new bike path dispute between the CDU and the Greens, there have been even more bike demos than before. On Sunday a week ago, more than 10,000 cyclists rode through the city center, blocking several tram lines for an hour and a half. Some protesters posted signs demanding better local public transport.
To fight for an attractive local transport with a blockade of the tram – you have to come up with this nonsense first. The cycling activists are no strangers to such brain acrobatics. They’re inner-city selfish people with too much free time.
Riding your bike up and down Schönhauser Allee on a Monday morning “in protest” is not possible when you have a (normal) job. The blockade of car traffic and trams during rush hour – of course intentional.
These cycling activists simply cannot imagine that people have to drive from Hellersdorf to Spandau or from Bernau to Steglitz to work in the morning. In these cases, the bicycle is rarely a sensible alternative.
The activists find their natural allies in the Greens: drive as little as possible, reduce parking spaces, preferably have the city center completely car-free. As is well known, this is what the transport policy of the eco-party looks like.
A suggestion for kindness: The cycling activists should switch to the Tempelhofer Feld with their next demo and ride in circles there.