Editing Transport in Germany (section)

==Road and automotive transport==

===Overview===
[[File:Autobahnen in Deutschland.svg|thumb|Map of the German autobahn network]]
The volume of traffic in Germany, especially goods transportation, is at a very high level due to its central location in Europe.
In the past few decades, much of the freight traffic shifted from rail to road, which led the [[German Government|Federal Government]] to introduce a motor toll for trucks in 2005. Individual road usage increased resulting in a relatively high traffic density to other nations. A further increase of traffic is expected in the future. In 2023, 286 billion tonnes-kilometres are travelled by freight.<ref>https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Road_freight_transport_by_journey_characteristics</ref> In 2018, 630 billion kilometers were driven by german cars. In 2023, 591 billion kilometers were driven by german cars.<ref>https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/financial-models/europe/features/mobility-paradox-more-cars-less-mileage?a=FJA05&t[0]=Fleet%20Management&t[1]=Shared%20Mobility&curl=1</ref>

From 2019 to 2021, road death per billion traveled kilometres is in range 3.7 to 4.0. The Common strategy for road safety activities in Germany from 2021 to 2030 is known as the “Road Safety Pact”.<ref>https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/irtad-road-safety-annual-report-2022.pdf</ref>

In Germany urban mobility is mostly performed as a driver by car (about 58%) by urban rail or by train (about 14%) or as passenger car (12%).<ref>https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Passenger_mobility_statistics</ref>

Germany has 229,601 kilometers of road in its road network, which make a density of 0.60 kilometer of road per square kilometer. 5.7% of those roads are known as motorways in European English<ref>https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2024-01/erso-country-overview-2024-germany.pdf</ref> and eventually in British English ([[Autobahn]]).

High-speed vehicular traffic has a long tradition in Germany given that the first [[freeway]] ([[Autobahn]]) in the world, the [[AVUS]], and the world's first [[automobile]] were developed and built in Germany. Germany possesses one of the most dense road systems of the world. German motorways have no blanket [[speed limit]] for light vehicles. However, posted limits are in place on many dangerous or congested stretches as well as where traffic noise or pollution poses a problem (20.8% under static or temporary limits and an average 2.6% under variable traffic control limit applications as of 2015).

The German government has had issues with upkeep of the country's autobahn network, having had to revamp the Eastern portion's transport system since the unification of Germany between the [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany) and the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] (West Germany). With that, numerous construction projects have been put on hold in the west, and a vigorous reconstruction has been going since the late 1990s. However, ever since the [[European Union]] formed, an overall streamlining and change of route plans have occurred as faster and more direct links to former [[Soviet bloc]] countries now exist and are in the works, with intense co-operation among European countries.

[[Intercity bus service]] within Germany fell out of favour as [[Wirtschaftswunder|post-war prosperity increased]], and became almost extinct when legislation was introduced in the 1980s to protect the national railway. After that market was deregulated in 2012, some 150 new intercity bus lines have been established, leading to a significant shift from rail to bus for long journeys.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverwyman/2015/10/20/european-bus-upstarts-snatch-20-of-passengers-from-rail/2/|title=European Bus Upstarts Snatch 20% of Passengers from Rail|first=Oliver Wyman on Transportation &|last=Logistics|website=[[Forbes]]}}</ref> The market has since consolidated with [[Flixbus]] controlling over 90% of it and also expanding into neighboring countries.

=== Roads ===
{{Main|Autobahn|Bundesstraße|Landesstraße|Kreisstraße}}
[[File:Münchberger Senke.jpg|thumb|Three-lane autobahn]]
[[File:Leipzig-Halle Airport Condor.jpg|thumb|right|An airport [[taxiway]] crossing the [[Bundesautobahn 14]]]]

Germany has approximately 650,000&nbsp;km of roads,<ref name="transtatsde">{{cite web|url=http://www.iraptranstats.net/de |title=Transport in Germany |access-date=2009-02-17 |work=International Transport Statistics Database |publisher=[[International Road Assessment Program|iRAP]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307013745/http://www.iraptranstats.net/de |archive-date=March 7, 2009 }}</ref> of which 231,000&nbsp;km are non-local roads.<ref>{{cite web | publisher=[[Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development|BMVBS]] | url=http://www.bmvbs.de/SharedDocs/DE/Artikel/StB-LA/strasse.html | title=BMVBS - Verkehr und Mobilität-Straße | access-date=2011-05-22 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011121646/http://www.bmvbs.de/SharedDocs/DE/Artikel/StB-LA/strasse.html | archive-date=2011-10-11 }}</ref> The road network is extensively used with nearly 2 trillion km travelled by car in 2005, in comparison to just 70 billion km travelled by rail and 35 billion km travelled by plane.<ref name="transtatsde"/>

The Autobahn is the German federal highway system. The official German term is ''{{Lang|de|Bundesautobahn}}'' (plural ''{{Lang|de|Bundesautobahnen}}'', abbreviated 'BAB'), which translates as 'federal motorway'. Where no local speed limit is posted, the advisory limit ''([[Richtgeschwindigkeit]])'' is 130&nbsp;km/h. The ''Autobahn'' network had a total length of about {{convert|12996|km}} in 2016,<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.statistik-bw.de/Statistik-Portal/de_jb16_jahrtab36.asp| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20031115021121/http://www.statistik-bw.de/statistik-portal/de_jb16_jahrtab36.asp| archive-date = 2003-11-15| title = Gemeinsames Datenangebot der Statistischen Ämter des Bundes und der Länder}}</ref> which ranks it among the most dense and longest systems in the world. Only federally built [[controlled-access highway]]s meeting certain construction standards including at least two lanes per direction are called ''"Bundesautobahn"''. They have their own, blue-coloured signs and their own numbering system. All ''Autobahnen'' are named by using the capital letter A, followed by a blank and a number (for example [[Bundesautobahn 8|A&nbsp;8]]).

The main ''Autobahnen'' going all across Germany have single digit numbers. Shorter highways of regional importance have double digit numbers (like [[Bundesautobahn 24|A&nbsp;24]], connecting Berlin and Hamburg). Very short stretches built for heavy local traffic (for example [[ring road]]s or the [[Bundesautobahn 555|A&nbsp;555]] from Cologne to Bonn) usually have three digits, where the first digit depends on the region.

East–west routes are usually even-numbered, north–south routes are usually odd-numbered. The numbers of the north–south ''Autobahnen'' increase from west to east; that is to say, the more easterly roads are given higher numbers. Similarly, the east–west routes use increasing numbers from north to south.

The autobahns are considered the safest category of German roads: for example, in 2012, while carrying 31% of all motorized road traffic, they only accounted for 11% of Germany's traffic fatalities.<ref name="http://www.bast.de 2012">{{cite web
|title=Traffic and Accident Data: Summary Statistics - Germany
|date=September 2013
|url=http://www.bast.de/EN/Publications/Media/Unfallkarten-national-englisch.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
|work=Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (Federal Highway Research Institute)
|publisher=Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen
|access-date=2014-04-07|format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408224423/http://www.bast.de/EN/Publications/Media/Unfallkarten-national-englisch.pdf?__blob=publicationFile |archive-date=2014-04-08}}</ref>

German autobahns are still toll-free for light vehicles, but on 1 January 2005, a blanket [[LKW-Maut|mandatory toll on heavy trucks]] was introduced.

The national roads in Germany are called ''Bundesstraßen'' (federal roads). Their numbers are usually well known to local road users, as they appear (written in black digits on a yellow rectangle with black border) on direction traffic signs and on street maps. A Bundesstraße is often referred to as "B" followed by its number, for example [[Bundesstraße 1|"B1"]], one of the main east–west routes. More important routes have lower numbers. Odd numbers are usually applied to north–south oriented roads, and even numbers for east–west routes. Bypass routes are referred to with an appended "a" (alternative) or "n" (new alignment), as in "B&nbsp;56n".

Other main public roads are maintained by the ''[[States of Germany|Bundesländer]]'' (states), called ''Landesstraße'' (country road) or ''Staatsstraße'' (state road). The numbers of these roads are prefixed with "L", "S" or "St", but are usually not seen on direction signs or written on maps. They appear on the kilometre posts on the roadside. Numbers are unique only within one state.

The ''[[Landkreis]]e'' (districts) and municipalities are in charge of the minor roads and streets within villages, towns and cities. These roads have the number prefix "K" indicating a ''Kreisstraße''.