Here Comes the Sun

How Freiburg cut down on cars and bulked up on alternative energy sources to turn itself green

It doesn’t take long to find out who’s king of the road in Freiburg. “Hey! Are you blind?” shouts an imperious cyclist as a pedestrian ambles into a dedicated cycle path. Bikes, trams and buses whiz through the center of this medieval city, but private cars are conspicuously absent. That’s because for the past 20 years, this university town nestled in the Black Forest in southwestern Germany has reduced the use of cars by laying down a lattice of bike paths, introducing a flat-rate fare for all public transport, and expanding bus and tram lines. Commuters from the suburbs can easily catch a bus, tram or bike from the central train station, so more and more of them leave their cars at home.

Time Magazine