Sustainable Mobility in Saarland (NMOB) – Urban and Rural Areas

The funding guideline "Sustainable Mobility in Saarland – Urban and Rural Areas" aims to expand and make bicycle traffic in cities, municipalities, and districts of Saarland future-proof and safer. Within the framework of the sustainable mobility strategy, primarily innovative infrastructure projects such as the new construction, conversion, and expansion of cycle paths, bicycle streets, and safe junctions are to be implemented. Funding is provided as a grant, whereby depending on the financial capacity of the municipality, up to 75%, in financially weak cases up to 90%, and for projects of special state interest even up to 100% of the eligible expenses can be covered. Planning costs, construction costs, and land acquisition costs are also considered in the sense of an integrated or specific bicycle traffic concept, in order to contribute to climate protection and to realize a modern, traffic-safe bicycle traffic system.

The guideline is aimed at public institutions and exclusively funds measures that comply with recognized technical standards and traffic engineering requirements. These include, for example, the separate construction of roadside cycle paths, independent cycle paths, cycle path bridges, underpasses, as well as traffic engineering equipment such as lighting systems and safety islands. The funded measures must have a positive forecast regarding their modal shift potential and possess significant traffic relevance for commuter or everyday traffic. Projects whose concept does not correspond to integrated traffic planning or that serve exclusively tourist traffic are excluded from funding. Furthermore, the implementation of the measures must be ensured in close coordination with the responsible authorities, so that continuous operation and maintenance in compliance with safety standards are guaranteed.

Applications are to be submitted exclusively through the responsible Ministry of Environment, Climate, Mobility, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection. Applications must be submitted by September 30 of each year at the latest (by May 31, 2030, in the year 2030), whereby an early project start is only possible in exceptional cases with the corresponding approval. The submitted documents should include, among other things, a detailed project description, a financing plan, and all necessary approval documents. The guideline thus creates a transparent framework in which municipalities as eligible recipients can contribute through targeted investments in bicycle traffic infrastructure not only to traffic safety but also to sustainable environmental policy and the improvement of quality of life in regional and urban areas.