Overview
- The Abgeordnetenhaus rejected the citizens' draft law, clearing the way for a formal signature drive starting in January 2026.
- To qualify a referendum, the initiative must collect signatures from at least seven percent of eligible voters within four months, estimated at about 170,000 people.
- A vote could be scheduled for September 20 alongside the Berlin state election, and passage would require a majority plus support from at least one quarter of all eligible voters.
- The draft envisions a four-year transition after which most streets inside the S-Bahn ring become low-car zones, limiting private driving to twelve freely chosen days per person each year with exemptions for disabled people, emergency services, taxis, and commercial and delivery traffic.
- The Berlin Constitutional Court deemed the petition admissible in June after the initiative previously gathered more than 50,000 backers in 2021, as party leaders voiced mixed reactions and the regional ADAC welcomed the parliamentary rejection.