Michael Ludwig (SP) gave harsh criticism of Transport and Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) in an interview with the APA. He suspects that the head of department recently made her decisions more dependent on the election date in Upper Austria at the end of September than on content-related considerations.
Most recently, for example, the climate ticket was presented in Linz and a start was announced on October 26th – but without the Verkehrsverbund Ostregion (VOR), in which Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland bundle their offers, recalled Ludwig. “We in Vienna were very astonished that the Federal Minister, without arriving at an overall result that was announced in the media. This is not a good negotiating style, especially where more than 60 percent of commuters in the eastern region are on the move are.”
Ludwig was astonished: “In reality, a nationwide ticket is being announced that is not one.” It was expected that there would be negotiations on an equal footing. Presumably the election date in O was responsible for the presentation, said Ludwig, who referred to the ongoing talks with the federal government.
The election date also applies to the evaluation of high-level road projects, he assumes. “Some things go quickly, see S10”, he referred to the decision to continue building the Mhlviertler Schnellstrasse. He demanded clarity quickly, also in matters of the northeast bypass. “The northeast bypass is an important decision for Vienna. Every reasonably larger municipality in Austria has a bypass.” This will relieve the population of through traffic.
“I want to enforce this right for the Viennese population as well.” Business settlement areas can also be created along the route. Ludwig ruled out that there could be a deal of some kind – Vienna agrees to the climate ticket via the VOR and the federal government is blessing the tunnel construction for it. “These are two very different areas,” he emphasized.
