Two things are arriving in our cities at the same time: automated vehicle fleets, and the end of the money that pays for our streets. Neither has a rulebook yet.
the problem, part one: robotaxis, and no rules
US and Chinese cities already run robotaxi fleets. Europe’s first pilots are launching now. Whoever controls the app, the data and the fleet sets the prices and writes the rules — and infrastructure, once set, stays set for decades.
Three effects follow from the absence of rules. Vehicles that need not park will simply keep circulating, empty. Passengers who can work while they ride stop minding the traffic, so congestion stops limiting itself. And the profitable individual trips come straight out of public transport.
the problem, part two: the money runs out just as the bill grows
- Road traffic does not pay for itself. A 2024 FÖS study puts the external costs of car traffic in Germany at around 104 billion € a year against roughly 46 billion € in car-specific revenue. Everyone else covers the difference.
- Cities carry the streets but not the revenue. Municipal roads are the large majority of the network, while vehicle taxation is collected centrally. What reaches a city is indirect, not earmarked, not proportional to its network, and impossible to plan against.
- Climate adaptation is a new bill. Unsealing, shade, drainage and cooling are no longer optional, and they compete for the same budget as road repair.
- Electrification removes the tax base, not the wear. As the fleet electrifies, fuel and energy tax revenue declines structurally. Mass, space occupied, kinetic energy and tyre wear do not decline at all.
The basis of transport finance is eroding on its own, and something will replace it. That is the real decision in front of us.
Will autonomous fleets become the cash cows of foreign platform monopolies that extract our mobility data and privatise profits — or will we organise accessibility as part of public service?
the solution we aim for
A Public Space & Safety Contribution: a charge for the use of urban street space, priced to the space a vehicle occupies and the harm it causes.
- Vehicles are rated, not categorised. Mass, footprint, direct vision, acceleration capability, emissions and noise produce the rating the charge is built on.
- Baseline 0 / active mobility – walking, cycling and public transport pay nothing – as of right, not as a discount.
- The revenue is bound by law to the street the payer can see from their own front door: cycle lanes, crossings, green micro-parks, better transit.
- Cities can start now. Curb allocation, parking, access restrictions and procurement are powers most cities already hold. The general Contribution needs new law — and the pilots are what would justify it.
One number shows why this is worth the effort. In Munich the public bears roughly 0,60 € in hidden costs per car kilometre, while every kilometre cycled saves the community about 0,30 €. Moving a single kilometre from car to bike is worth close to 0,90 € – it removes a cost and adds a saving at once.
read the proposal
The full research proposal exists as a first draft: a model law, the rating metrics, digital curb management, a cost catalogue and the research design.
Public Space & Safety Contribution — interdisciplinary research proposal
We are looking for further people and partner to support this project or even become project partner.