"Make local transport partially free of charge"
On 7 October 2025, the Citizens' Assembly ‘Balanced Mobility in Aachen’ presented nine proposals for improving urban transport. Among other things, it recommends the introduction of free public transport for recipients of transfer payments, disabled people, children and trainees.
The randomly selected participants of the mini-public see this as an opportunity to reduce private transport. They believe the measure is socially acceptable and also serves to protect the environment, as free public transport makes it more attractive. As a first step, the Citizens' Assembly would like to see public transport free of charge one weekend a month, for example on a Sunday when shops are open.
The nine recommendations
Improvement of public transport stops with real-time display boards, ticket machines at central stops and on buses, creation of more bays and barrier-free access at all stops.
Introduction of bicycle traffic lights across the board and switching them ahead of car traffic to increase the safety of cyclists.
Introduce Karl the Little One as THE transport mascot for improved and friendly communication in campaigns for greater road safety and consideration.
Restructure parking space in the city through optimal use of existing facilities and, where necessary, create new facilities for all modes of transport and road users.
Sustainable attractiveness and efficiency of public transport through decentralised hubs with improved connections to Park + Ride stations at important transport points.
Reduction of traffic speed to 30 km/h where separate car and cycle lanes are not possible and asymmetrical design of cycle lanes on downhill slopes.
Purchase/set up a mobility app that is interactive, intuitive to use, accessible and multilingual, providing information in real time.
Promote the expansion and use of digital twins to coordinate construction sites at an early stage. Supplemented by a prevention concept for underground infrastructure, this will avoid duplication of work and delays. A roadmap will make progress publicly transparent and accessible to citizens.
Partial introduction of free public transport for recipients of transfer payments, disabled people, children and trainees.
Recommendations based on consensus
The method of consensus building was used at the 3rd Aachen Citizens' Assembly. The aim was not to achieve perfect agreement, but to arrive at viable recommendations with the broadest possible support. And visible openness to criticism. All participants were able to indicate their position on each recommendation using colour cards:
- Green: agreement
- Yellow: slight resistance and agreement despite reservations – the arguments were heard
- Red: rejection with veto – a recommendation in this form is not acceptable
This created a transparent picture of the group's opinion. The Citizens' Assembly's citizen report therefore states under each recommendation how many yellow cards (i.e. objections) were expressed. This strengthens the significance of the recommendations and makes it clear that work continued even where it was difficult.
Question
From 14 June to 5 July 2025, the Citizens' Assembly in the German city discussed the question of what balanced mobility in Aachen should look like for all residents. On 17 December 2025, the city council will officially receive the recommendations of the mini-public, then discuss them and decide on their implementation.
For the third round of the permanent Citizens' Assembly, the city called on all residents to submit topic suggestions in January 2025. The council factions, the administration and a previous citizens' assembly were also able to make suggestions. These had to be submitted by 12 February 2025. A total of 38 proposals were submitted.
Online vote on proposed topics
From 14 to 27 February 2025, all residents of Aachen were able to vote online on 28 of the proposed topics. Twenty-four proposals received the required number of 125 votes. Four more were added by the administration. There were twelve different questions on the topic of mobility alone. The Citizens' Assembly's advisory committee, made up of members of the two mini-publics already held in Aachen, discussed the proposed topics and selected five that seemed particularly promising:
- More direct citizen participation in the individual development of the various districts and neighbourhoods: How could this be achieved?
- Balanced mobility in Aachen: How can transport policy decisions take into account the needs of all road users? What specific measures are needed to achieve a balanced coexistence?
- ‘Net-zero Aachen 2030’: How can the city involve and engage its citizens in the implementation of climate protection measures?
- What measures can Aachen take to become a cleaner and therefore more liveable city?
- How can Aachen become more environmentally friendly?
Topics proposed by administration approved
These proposed topics were discussed on 25 March 2025 in the citizens' forum, which is the responsible committee of the city council, in a public meeting. Here, the political representatives selected the final topic for the 2025 Citizens' Assembly: Balanced mobility in Aachen. This means that a proposal from the city administration has been accepted.
To recruit participants for the mini-public, 3,500 invitations were sent to randomly selected residents of the city. 348 invitees (9.9 per cent) applied to participate. From the responses, 56 members were selected for the committee by lottery in such a way that they reflected the population in terms of age, gender, education and neighbourhood. All assembly members received an expense allowance of €50 per day of the assembly.
Four assembly meetings
After a kick-off event on 14 June, the assembly members met on Saturdays 21 and 28 June and on 5 July to discuss the topic of ‘Balanced mobility in Aachen’ and draw up a citizens' report. The participants were supported by experts in science, administration, transport planning, communication, mobility policy and from the Aachen-based mobility service provider ASEAG.
A special highlight of the programme was a joint city walk. In small groups, participants explored key locations in Aachen city centre, always with a focus on mobility.
The tour began in Jakobstraße, which has been a premium pedestrian zone since 2024. It continued to Löhergraben, which has been redesigned as a traffic control point for Karlsgraben and forms the basis for a future cycle distribution ring. The tour then continued via Alexianergraben to Kapuzinergraben and into the historic old town. Citizens took the opportunity to get an idea of the current traffic situation and to make initial contacts with each other.
First permanent Citizens' Assembly in Germany
Aachen was the first German municipality to establish a permanent Citizens' Assembly in 2022. This means that, unlike other mini-publics, the Citizens' Assembly there has a legal basis and a permanent organisational structure. Since then, mini-publics have been held regularly.