TIMERIDEBlog

Shared space and traffic mix on the roads

The street was a space that belonged to everyone – a shared space where a colorful mix of traffic came together. Pedestrians, handcarts, horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, motorcycles, streetcars and finally the first motorized trucks and cars shared the road space. There was no need for dedicated cycle paths. The parking garage or designated parking areas for cars had not yet been invented, nor had the general road traffic regulations, which did not come until 1934.

From bike to car…

In the 1920s, public transport and the bicycle were the means of transportation of choice. Incidentally, also for transportation – the cargo bike is not a 21st century invention! Cars were slow to spread, traffic jams and traffic chaos were still out of the question. The car was still a real luxury item, on which a corresponding luxury tax was levied. The first German car to come off the assembly line, the “affordable” small to mid-range Opel “Laubfrosch”, cost as much as a home or three average annual salaries around 1925. It was only in the fifties and sixties that the car became more affordable and established itself as the number one means of transportation.

…and back

After decades of the car dominating Cologne’s streets, more and more people are switching to bicycles these days. You could almost think that history is repeating itself – only in the case of illegal car racing, it seems as if nothing has changed.