Gerd Landsberg, chief executive of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, described the diesel driving ban for important parts of Autobahn 40 in the Ruhr area as a "devastating signal".
For the residents, the verdict meant "an improvement in the situation". Due to the bypass traffic, there are endless traffic jams, which led to even greater environmental impact, said Landsberg the "Passauer Neue Presse".
The Administrative Court Gelsenkirchen had ordered on Thursday, inter alia, a driving ban zone for food, which also includes the busy highway 40. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia wants to appeal the verdict.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, asked the municipalities for "sustainable transport concepts". Clean air plans must become top priority in town halls, said the CDU politician.
Merkel called for the installation of more charging stations for electric cars, such as car parks, restaurants and businesses. If there were enough stations, more citizens could decide to buy an electric car and ultimately reduce their prices. Together with more car sharing as well as future assisted and autonomous driving, a lot can change with more electric cars in traffic.
Opposition politicians warn against video surveillance
Merkel was confident that it would be possible to prevent driving bans in most cases. In addition to the Clean Air Plans, it named measures such as new regulations, software and hardware updates for older diesel vehicles, and the modernization of bus fleets.
It is questionable how to check whether the drivers stick to the ban. The police unions had said that driving prohibited zones are difficult to control. Opposition politicians warned the federal government against enforcing the ban by means of a permanent video surveillance of traffic.
"A fully automated surveillance infrastructure to prosecute violations of administrative offenses is absolutely disproportionate and constitutionally not feasible," said Parliamentary Director of the Left Bundestag faction, Jan Korte, the "New Osnabrücker Zeitung" ("NOZ").
The deputy leader of the Green Group, Konstantin von Notz, considers the project dangerous. An "unlimited and permanent technical monitoring of all cars, as planned by CSU Transport Minister Scheuer and the Federal Government" would "ground the fundamental rights of the citizens," he told the "NOZ". Also FDP leader Christian Lindner warned against a "total monitoring" of motorists.
Exhaust gas purification at the expense of the manufacturer
Gerd Landsberg, meanwhile, was in favor of an automated scanning of license plates, which helps "to implement the controls quickly, efficiently and unbureaucratically". A fundamental data storage does not take place, he said the "NOZ".
In the concept for diesel agreement of the grand coalition of October, the Federal Ministry of Transport had said: "In the event that countries or municipalities should order driving bans, the federal government will ensure that the traffic control authorities can access the data of the central vehicle register." The police could "randomly" check on the basis of the license plate, if the vehicle is allowed to drive there.
As a means to avert further traffic prohibition zones is also a hardware retrofit older diesel, so conversions on the engine. Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze sees potential here. "We have no time to lose, because the affected diesel drivers want to know what their way out of the diesel crisis looks," said the SPD politician.
Refurbishment of the exhaust gas purification at the expense of the manufacturers are "the best and fairest way out," said Schulze, as they made the air cleaner and stopped the depreciation of the vehicles.