Berlin-based advocates are one step closer to creating a car-free zone in their city that's bigger than the entirety of Manhattan.

A decision on Wednesday by the Berlin Constitutional Court allows a long-stalled initiative by the advocacy group Volksentscheid Berlin Autofrei ("Ballot Measure for an Auto-Free Berlin) to continue gathering signatures for a referendum to create a zone in the center of the German capital that would be free of almost all private automobiles.

The group's efforts had already reached the initial, 50,000-signature threshold before a series of procedural impediments threw a wrench in their effort. Wednesday's court decision pushes the long-delayed process forward, beginning with a debate at the Berlin House of Representatives, followed by another round of signature collection that would allow the referendum to take place in 2026, the group said.

The "ban" would still allow up to 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person. It would also include exceptions for rental vehicles, people with disabilities, and service vehicles like delivery vans and garbage trucks.