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Ernst criticizes demos
According to official sources, there were around 20,000 registered demonstrations in Vienna in 2017, which amounts to an average of 380 meetings per week.
Ernst criticizes demos
“Countless demonstrations that take place on Christmas Saturdays not only worsen and hinder traffic, but also damage Vienna's trade in the well-known shopping streets,” criticizes Burkhard Ernst, LGO of the Vienna vehicle trade.
Roadblocks, blockades, public transport failures and blocked parking spaces are just some of the negative consequences that demonstrations in Vienna have on traffic. "Instead of hindering traffic more and more, the city of Vienna should aim to make traffic flow more smoothly through traffic lights, traffic jam warnings, parking information and other options. With all the right to freedom of assembly, one should try to avoid the shopping streets and move the demonstrations to places that are independent of traffic, such as Vienna's Danube Island, the Prater or industrial zones that are closed on Saturdays," said Ernst.
It is not the right solution for retailers to have to expect a loss of business. An estimate by KMU Research Austria shows that the ring barriers alone would cost trade in Vienna's first district 35 million euros annually. “In order to revive purchasing power in Vienna, demonstrations must not hinder traffic and thereby damage trade,” Ernst is convinced.