According to a study, a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour in Germany would have a significant economic benefit in addition to the climate protection effect. An international research group determined so-called welfare gains of at least 950 million euros per year.
According to the study, which was published in the journal “Ecological Economics” and reported on by “Spiegel online”, the fuel savings, fewer accidents, lower supply chain costs and savings in infrastructure are particularly relevant for this, in addition to the climate protection effect. Even without emissions savings, there would be a welfare gain of 660 million euros annually. The experts therefore rate the speed limit as a win-win situation: good for the climate and with significant benefits for society.
According to the information provided, welfare is the benefit for individuals or society in economics. How exactly welfare can be determined in detail, for example via gross domestic product or other indicators, is still controversial among economists.
Traffic planner: speed limit economically very advantageous
According to the information, the experts from Germany, Sweden and Canada relied on publicly available data. With the help of a cost-benefit analysis, they determined the effects of a speed limit on travel times, fuel consumption and subsidies, supply chains, infrastructure development and maintenance, accidents, land use, emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. They calculated the economic damage and benefits that would result.
From the point of view of Prof. Udo Becker from the Institute for Traffic Planning and Road Traffic at the TU Dresden, the results of the study show that a speed limit is economically very advantageous. With a speed limit, drivers would save fuel worth 766 million euros per year. All major effects were included in the study. “In order to reduce the climate problems as well as the land use, exhaust gas and noise problems of traffic, a speed limit on federal motorways is an economically sensible approach,” said Becker. Prof. Felix Creutzig from the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) in Berlin called the assumptions and methodology of the study plausible. The assumptions are conservative, especially when it comes to the social costs of CO2 emissions.
According to the authors of the study, Germany is still the only large country in the world where there is no general speed limit on motorways. One of the main arguments for this is that lower speeds have a cost in terms of travel time that is not outweighed by benefits such as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. From the authors’ point of view, the arguments presented are misleading.
