Gaiens are the ones who spend the most time in the car

A study on mobility reveals that the car continues to crush public transport in Greater Porto.

Those who live in the metropolitan area of ​​Porto spend an average of 66.8 minutes traveling. In Lisbon, residents take 72.5 minutes to reach the destination. In both territories, the car is, to a very large extent, the preferred mode of transport. And the main reason for traveling is work. If we compare the two metropolitan areas, it is in Porto that people use the car more, but it is in Lisbon that trips take longer.

The final data of the survey of mobility in the metropolitan areas of Porto and Lisbon (IMob) were published Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). And they attest that in the metropolitan area of ​​Porto, it is the people who spend most of their time in the car: 82.2 minutes on weekdays. Counting the weekends, we reach an overall average of 77.7 minutes.

The automobile remains the preferred means of transport, being used more in Porto (67.6% of trips) than in Lisbon (58.9%). "We need policies to promote public transport and the courage to limit individual transport," JN Marco Martins, Mayor of Gondomar and Metropolitan Coordinator of Transport and Mobility told reporters. The autarch rents two measures envisaged in the state budget for the coming year: "The creation of the single pass and the call for tenders for the concession of the transport of travelers by road are optimal measures to combat this trend ".

More soft mobility

According to the survey, attended by more than 99,000 people, the main reason to travel is work, followed shopping for shopping. And soft mobility – on foot or by bike – is increasingly an option, already occupying second place in the table and overlapping with public transport. This is particularly true in Porto, where 18.9% of people use soft modes of transport, while 11.1% use public transport.

As far as public transport costs are concerned, 46% of the residents of the Oporto area pay this bill, of which around 50% have costs over 30 euros. A number lower than that of the capital, where 69.9% of people who have this expense spend more than 30 euros per month.

"To improve the mobility of citizens, more and better public transport is needed, to simplify the ticketing system and to reduce costs," said Carlos Alberto Carvalho, First Secretary of the Metropolitan Region. Lisbon, which emphasized the importance of an "integrated transport network vision".

The results of the survey also show that in the north, the inhabitants of Gondomar travel the longest average distances (13.2 km), compared to the inhabitants of Vale de Cambra, which cover an average of 7 , 5 km.