Legislative work

On 7 October 2026 the federal cabinet adopted the draft presented by Bilger to reorganise the financing of the federal motorway company. The ministry's press release does not give the bill a formal title; it calls it the draft on the new financing of the Autobahn GmbH. The plan rests on three pillars: user charges, budget funds and private capital. From 2027 the company is to be allowed to borrow within limits; from 2028 it is to receive the infrastructure share of the truck toll directly, currently about €4.5 billion a year. The federal government remains sole owner of the motorways and of the company, and any direct or indirect stake by third parties stays excluded, in line with Article 90 of the Basic Law.

Bilger had announced the step in his budget speech on 8 September, saying the coalition had agreed on a bill on the company's ability to borrow and that it would go to cabinet in the autumn. As a government bill it now enters the parliamentary procedure described above, beginning with the Bundesrat's first pass. Its final shape and timing depend on parliament.

Wir leiten einen Paradigmenwechsel bei der Autobahnfinanzierung ein und schaffen mehr Spielraum für Investitionen in unsere Autobahnen.

"We are initiating a paradigm shift in motorway financing and creating more room for investment in our motorways." (translation)

Steffen Bilger, BMV press release 093/2026, 7 October 2026

The government's draft for 2027 provides about €26.43 billion in core expenditure for the transport ministry, compared with €27.9 billion in 2026, plus about €17.72 billion for transport from the special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality. Bilger opened the transport debate at the first reading on 8 September 2026, his first speech as minister and the day he took the oath of office. He named about €170 billion of transport investment up to 2030 and linked rail managers' bonuses to punctuality targets.

Opposition speakers criticised the figures: the Greens' Tarek Al-Wazir said there was not enough money to start new rail projects, and the Left's Sascha Wagner called the change of minister a "political farce". The draft is now with the Budget Committee; the Bundestag decides in the second and third readings. See the speeches archive and infrastructure investment.

Criminal law falls under the Federal Ministry of Justice, not the transport ministry. In August 2026 the Justice Ministry said its draft on tougher penalties for attacks on train staff was still in government coordination. The rail union EVG and its chair Martin Burkert threatened on 23 August to halt services in January if the promised law did not reach the Bundestag that year. The background is a rise in assaults: DB Regio recorded 989 attacks on staff in the first half of 2026, and a conductor, Serkan Çalar, was killed during a ticket check in February 2026.

Bilger's documented part is political rather than legislative: he presented the assault figures with DB Regio on 10 August, backed bodycams for conductors in his budget speech and described train safety as "a basic precondition" for public transport. Reports that a specific minimum sentence has been agreed, or that the EVG has withdrawn its threat, could not be confirmed from primary sources and are not repeated here. More on transport safety.

This is an example of secondary legislation. According to the ministry, an ordinance (Verordnung) that entered into force on 14 September 2026 abolishes the passage fee for recreational craft on the Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal) from 1 January 2027. About 10,000 leisure boats use the canal each year and paid between €12 and €43 per passage, depending on length; the ministry said collecting the fee had come to cost more effort than it raised. The same ordinance contains seven further simplifications for shipping, including an option, in certain cases, to employ masters and officers from outside the EU on German-flagged ships if they were trained in the EU or the shipowner creates extra training places.

Wir wollen Bürokratie dort abbauen, wo sie den Menschen keinen Mehrwert bringt.

"We want to cut red tape where it brings people no added value." (translation)

Steffen Bilger, BMV press release 085/2026, 14 September 2026

The Infrastructure Future Act, designed to speed up planning and approval by giving transport projects across all modes the status of "overriding public interest", was passed by the Bundestag on 26 June 2026 and approved by the Bundesrat on 10 July 2026, under Bilger's predecessor Patrick Schnieder. It is not Bilger's law. As minister he now applies it and has referred to it: announcing federal approval of revised plans for the second Rhine bridge at Wörth on 15 September 2026, he said that the act had created the conditions for planning and building such projects considerably faster. In a Spiegel interview he also backed planning acceleration in general. See infrastructure policy.