Heidelberg is buying a fleet of hydrogen-powered
buses, building a network of bicycle "superhighways" to the suburbs
and designing neighborhoods to discourage all vehicles and encourage
walking.

Among the city's measures to make cars irrelevant are
building bridges that would allow cyclists to bypass congested areas
or cross the Neckar without having to compete for road space with
motor vehicles.

Cars are not banned from the Bahnstadt, but there is almost no
traffic. Most streets are dead ends. Apartment buildings are arranged
around generous courtyards with playgrounds and connected by
walkways. The one street that cuts through the triangular neighborhood
has a speed limit of 30 kilometers an hour, or less than 20 miles per
hour. Bicycles have the right of way.