Traffic still represents the crucial burden factor of the urban environment. Its numerical development is observed by regular traffic investigations. Responsible for these counts on highways, national highways as well as the remaining main road network is the ministry for urban development in Berlin. The current data refer to the year 2005 and update the values of the preceding count of 1998. Based on a high comparability of the data bases and methods you can look for further explications at the map text of the edition 1995.
The motorization level, i.e., the ratio of cars to the number of inhabitants, was also different for East and West Berlin in 1970. Thus, there were 77.5 cars per 1,000 inhabitants in East Berlin in 1970, compared to 175.4 in the western part of the city – a difference of almost 100 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants. In 1995, partially due to reunification, the numbers are clearly closer together: In East Berlin, 1,000 inhabitants now have 302 cars at their disposal, compared to 346 in West Berlin (cf. Fig. 1). In comparison with other cities, Berlin thus still in 2005 has a favorable level: Munich, with 610 cars/1,000 inh. (2006), and Hamburg with ab out 480 car/1,000 inh. (2004), show far higher values. The average in Germany was about 500 cars/1,000 inh. in 2004.