The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, he has provided a increase of the use of vehicle
private by the people of Madrid when the capital enters phase 2 of the de-escalated, reason why it has returned to remember that public transport is “safe” and that “the use of a private vehicle is not a better option than any other. It is not the most suitable alternative. ”Almeida has also asked the central and regional government to collaborate in executing VAO bus lanes on national access roads to the capital, even if they are provisional and without the need for works, with the aim of encouraging the use public transport
Along the same lines, the delegate for the Environment and Mobility, Borja Carabante, said yesterday that there would be “a slippage from public to private transport without any doubt around 10-13%, very relevant”.
“I encourage all Madrid residents to use public transport,” Almeida launched during the telematic press conference held after the city’s Governing Board, where he stated that mobility data is being studied “as a consequence of that situation in the use of the private vehicle that allows adopting more appropriate situations ”.
It has once again called on companies to make “the entry and exit times” of workers more flexible and workers who bet on public transport, such as buses from Empresa Municipal de Transportes (EMT) or BiciMad, “means of mobility that can be use right now with all the security “.
In this sense, the Madrid City Council has a ‘Design Manual for bike lanes’, guidelines that it will follow when it comes to expanding or building new ones, since the government team defends mobility and will promote it.
This was transmitted by the delegate for the Environment and Mobility, Borja Carabante, during his speech at the Executive Forum, where he added that “Madrid will be green or it will not be”. ”The bike lanes are here to stay. We are committed to running along the Castellana and that it stands as a symbol of cycling mobility, but it is also ordering it. We are working on definitive lanes, which we find more interesting than the provisional ones, ”said the delegate.
To achieve this purpose, the policies included in the ‘Madrid 360’ environmental strategy will be carried out. As Carabante has indicated, for these projects they will try to “fish as much as possible” of “European financing for all major projects”.
Cycling and environmental groups demand more support for the bike as a preferred means of transport
A dozen cycling groups and environmentalists this week have claimed support for the bike as a preferential transport system during the de-escalation “because it does not produce traffic jams, pollution or greenhouse gases and allows maintaining the interpersonal distance.” “As an added bonus, regular cycling reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, certain types of cancer or diabetes, and hypertension,” they say.
The organizations that work for cycling and sustainable mobility demand specific cycling routes, segregated and protected by the structuring axes of the city and interconnected with each other (Cycling Network); an urban design or physical measures that limit the speed to 30/20 km / h maximum and residential streets with pedestrian and bicycle priority that cover the entire city, or the installation of secure bicycle parking spaces at strategic points (public transport interchanges, buildings of administration and train stations, work centers, commercial, sports, etc.).
Also a redistribution of urban public space to rebalance street uses; bicycle promotion campaigns; enhance intermodality by facilitating bicycle travel on public transport; launching training programs for cycling safely; healthy environments with specific programs for the school population and their families (Stars) and the launch of logistics centers in order to promote the distribution of goods by bicycle (cyclology).
The crisis caused by Covid-19 has given the opportunity to think of a new concept of city that, taking advantage of a temporarily decontaminated atmosphere, prioritizes safe, ecological and accessible mobility systems, which also prove to be the healthiest and most profitable.
“In order to achieve the right to breathe clean air, massive confinement should not be necessary,” Adrián Fernández, head of the Greenpeace Mobility campaign, assured Efe that, on the occasion of the upcoming celebration of World Environment Day, he warned that the ‘postcovid’ atmosphere, clearer of toxic gases, is only “a mirage” and now it is time to prepare to continue protecting public health. According to INE statistics, combustion utilities emit 59 million tons of CO2 per year, making them one of the main problems in taking care of air quality in large cities and the cause of more than 30,000 premature deaths. in Spain and more than 400,000 in Europe.
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Tersa Ribera, regretted a few days ago in Congress that there are Spaniards who spend more than 17 hours a year on average involved in traffic jams (42 hours per year, in the case of Madrid and Barcelona) and celebrated The time that in recent months greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced in Spain by up to 32% compared to the 2019 average (17% worldwide).
The City Council campaigns for public transport guaranteeing that it is “safe”
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