Oct 30, 2018
Pedestrians in Berlin have had enough of being overrun by both
cars and bikes. They're campaigning for better sidewalks and street
crossings. We talk to a pedestrian activist who is hopping mad
about being walked over: Roland Stimpel from FUSS, the Organization
for Pedestrian Protection.
Is Mauerpark a beloved cultural hotspot or a noisy nuisance?
Authorities are threatening to seize and destroy instruments if
buskers don't pipe down. We meet Karla from Save Mauerpark, who
says only a handful of complainants are trying to limit the freedom
of thousands of Berliners.
Diesel vehicles could soon be banned from several main streets in
Berlin. An environmental protection group sued the city because of
the high levels of pollution that breach European Union
regulations. A court found Berlin must take drastic action to lower
particle emissions. But Angela Merkel's coalition is taking the
side of the auto industry and trying to avoid diesel bans.
The BVG's public taxi app Berlkönig is now operating 24/7 and
expanding to 300 vans, but is anyone using it? Meanwhile, the BVG
is abandoning part of the 248 bus line because it is sick of
illegally parked cars blocking the route.
Freelancers' minimum health insurance payments should drop from
over €300 to around €160 a month. That's thanks to years of
activism by the VGSD, a freelancer's lobby group. But compulsory
pension payments could eventually come into force. Joel recommends
talking to the people at SmartDE to get a better deal.
German doorbell names could breach Europe's new data privacy laws.
Landlords are being warned they could be sued for publishing their
tenants' names on the front door, and some are replacing names with
numbers. Could this improve packet delivery, at least?
This show was recorded at Prachtwerk Neukölln on Sunday October 28
by Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern.
Apologies for the poor audio quality!