Shared Vehicles, Electric Busses and Skateboards: Cities' Solutions to Reduce Car Use

(Moscow, special envoy). The number of cars in circulation is included in the list of concerns of the authorities of the main cities of the world. The problem is twofold: on the one hand, they make transit difficult; on the other, they produce pollution – and solutions, multiple. There are countries that punish users with taxes to limit the purchase of private vehicles. Others, less aggressive, are working to improve the transit system and achieve something that many people think is impossible, namely that a driver abandons his car and uses a bike, train or bus to go to work. This topic, among many others, discussed sector representatives in Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Berlin, Madrid and Montreal in Summit of the leaders of the transport which was held this week in Moscow.

On behalf of the host city, he spoke Maksim Liksutov, vice mayor and head of the Ministry of Transport, who presented an overview of the Russian capital in 2009. At that time, the scenario was unfavorable. Chaotic parking in the streets, major traffic jams, powerless public transport systems, 90% illegal taxis, old buses and only 40% of the inhabitants preferred to use private cars. Currently, he said, the situation is different. "Today, we give priority to pedestrians and cyclists", he summarized before showing some results of his management. He spoke of improvements in the metro (incorporation of stations, reduction of waiting time, improvement of the connection between cities); electronic collectives (new units, routes and stops), and the implementation of new modes of mobility (shared transport, electric skateboards and cycle lanes).

Then it was Amsterdam's turn, represented by Arjan Van Vliet, Director of Innovation at the Ministry of Infrastructure, emphasized the importance of putting in place a public transport system and the constant search for innovative solutions that improve the quality of life of citizens. "The transport began with steam trains and we did not know how to improve them or guarantee safety, and when new ways come, safety first, and we have accumulated a lot of experience at the beginning. over the last 200 years, "he said. In this line, Van Vliet said: "New media that appear must be part of an existing infrastructure, have social value and be accessible."

During his presentation, Esteban Galuzzi, Undersecretary of Public Transport and Transport of the City of Buenos Aires, presented figures and graphs reflecting the functioning of the networks of metrobuses, trains, cycle tracks and metros. "The priority is always to strengthen the public system, for example with the Restriction Zone in the Courts, which has revitalized the area, and with the new bike lanes." We try to offer the user more in addition to better options, so that's the car, "he said. He then spent a few minutes talking about episodes of women suffering from all means of transportation. He recalled that 54% of them had been harbaded at a stop or at a station and that 34% had been groped inside the collective. The number two of Juan José Méndez, absent for problems of the agenda, has contributed to the observation: there are 16 000 cameras in 4 000 buses which allow to avoid this type of situation. At the end of the presentation, Galuzzi mentioned that Soon, the government of Buenos Aires will regulate the service of electric skateboards in the city.

Jeremy YapDeputy Executive Director of Public Transport, Land Transport Policy and Planning in Singapore, one of the countries with the highest population density (5,636,000 inhabitants living on an area of ​​742 square kilometers), was attentive to demographic growth in the demand for travel, as well as in the diversity of needs and expectations of the inhabitants. It's hard to buy a car in Singapore: the Asian city imposed a series of measures discouraging the purchase, starting with the very high taxes that invite the use of public transport. Today, 71% of trips are on foot, bicycle or otherwise, and by 2040, 90% of rush hours should be covered this way, Jap said.

For Berlin, he spoke Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta, CEO of Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, the company that manages almost all public transport in the German capital. The company has 3,000 vehicles carrying 14,600 million people a year. Nikutta has named three future bets: electrical driving, unrestricted transportation for persons with disabilities and integration of services. From there announced the integration of 135 electric buses for 2021, said that next year would ensure access for people with reduced mobility to all metro stations (in groups and ferries is already a fact), and sent back to Jelbi an application that gathers all the transport services present on the territory, from the purchase of a train ticket to the sharing of a car, a trend that develops in the main cities of the world.

Sergio Fernández Balaguer, in charge of the research projects of the Madrid SA transport company, was also worried about the pollution produced by cars and the need to discourage their use. "We have a competition problem between public and private transport," he said. In this context, the manager referred to the Air Quality Plan of the City of Madrid and Climate Change, called Plan A, which includes a battery of measures to reduce pollution and pollution. greenhouse gas.

The same concern expressed Philip Schnobb, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Montreal Transit Corporation (STM), stating that, even though most citizens choose to travel in public places, transportation generates 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse. "We need to increase the number of trips in sustainable mobility systems and reduce the number of individual trips by car if we want to achieve our goals," he said. And he concluded: "Getting drivers out of their vehicles is a big challenge, some say that the right to drive can be compared to a mental illness, and it is not far from reality …".