15 Sep 2020

EUROPEAN MOBILITY WEEK. – “For a mobility without emissions”

THE INITIATIVE AIMS TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE, SAFE AND HEALTHY MOBILITY HABITS. –

European Mobility Week is a campaign aimed at raising awareness, both among citizens and politicians, of the negative consequences that irrational vehicle use in cities can have on both public health and the environment. This annual initiative also aims to highlight the benefits of using more sustainable modes of transport such as public transport, cycling and walking. This is a flagship campaign for mobility and transport that runs in different European cities until 22 September 2020, was created in 1999. It has the support of the European Commission and many local councils encourage activities to promote sustainable mobility. The aim is to encourage the development of good practices and permanent sustainability measures.

European Mobility Week is DG MOVE’s annual flagship campaign. In this new edition, it involves 46 countries and almost 2500 cities that organise events to promote sustainable urban mobility in Europe, often culminating in a car-free day and many opportunities for residents to interact with local authorities and discuss the benefits of active and sustainable transport. Various events are organised to encourage residents to try out alternatives to private or public transport.

This year’s EUROPEAN MOBILITY WEEK encourages people to use shared forms of transport, such as bicycle or car sharing, buses/coaches or any other means of collective transport that allows comfortable and safe travel. Europe is the leader in shared mobility solutions and the value of shared mobility transactions on the continent was estimated at 5.1 billion in 2015. It is expected to exceed 100 billion euros by 2025. Sharing transport not only helps people save money, as the EU’s goals also include achieving a low-emission economy.

Sharing a private car or using public transport such as buses or subways has a major environmental impact in cities. The Avant Grup,Grup transport group, in this sense, has the most modern fleet of coaches, equipped with EUROVI  engines that offer the lowest CO2 emission rate on the market, in accordance with the parameters set by European regulations. The transport company also has the “Environmental Quality in Vehicle Fleets” label.

From 16 to 22 September, European Mobility Week From 16 to 22 September, European Mobility Week in Catalonia will promote more sustainable, safer and healthier mobility habits under the slogan “For a mobility without emissions ‘. The 2020 initiative aims to raise awareness of the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The main objectives of the Week are as follows:

• Stimulate citizen behaviour in relation to vehicle use that is compatible with sustainable urban development, in particular the protection of air quality, the prevention of road accidents, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the rational consumption of energy resources.
• Raise public opinion’s awareness of the environmental impacts of transport and inform it about the different modes of transport.
• Encourage the use of sustainable means of transport, in particular public transport, cycling, walking and electric vehicles.
• To promote a reunion of citizens with the city, its people and its cultural heritage, in a healthy and relaxed environment.
• To reflect on how the excessive use of motorised transport affects our health. On the one hand, air pollution and the congestion they generate have a negative impact on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. On the other hand, they lead to sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity.

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ZBE.- LOW EMISSION ZONE IN BARCELONA METROPOLITAN AREA

The different tourist destinations, following the directives of the European Union on the one hand and the governments of each country on the other, have taken measures to reduce the environmental impact generated by greenhouse gases. In the case of Catalonia, as a tourist destination, and following European Union guidelines, measures have been implemented to reduce the environmental impact generated by greenhouse gases. As each country applies traffic restrictions and some of them have already been implemented for some time. The area around Barcelona and, specifically, the metropolitan region, together with the AMB, the Autonomous Government of Catalonia and the five city councils that make up the ZBE Rondas BCN (Barcelona, Cornellà de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Hospitalet de Llobregat and Sant Adrià de Besós) are reactivating the deployment of the ZBE Rondas BCN to avoid a return to the high levels of pollution that were detected before the health crisis. The common objective is to prevent diseases associated with poor air quality. The new timetable and roadmap for the continued deployment of the Low Emission Zone in the Barcelona Rounds comes into force from this 15 September, coinciding with the start of Mobility Week. Therefore, the application of the restrictive measures for vehicles that do not comply with the emissions regulations is reinstated and the penalty regime is also resumed.

In the Low Emissions area, traffic restrictions will be permanent and will affect vehicles which do not have the environmental eco-label provided by the Directorate General of Traffic. The Low Emission Zone is an area of more than 95 square kilometres which includes the city of Barcelona and surrounding municipalities such as Hospitalet de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Cornellà de Llobregat and Sant Adrià del Besós. All its municipalities will carry out policies of progressive restriction of the circulation of polluting vehicles, together with other complementary measures to ensure air quality. All these actions will not lead to immediate results, as it takes time for the measures to start to take effect. These new winds of change will take hold in a few years’ time, but the reality is beginning to be felt by different sectors of society that have been trying for some time to find alternatives that will continue to ensure the good work and sustainability of this world. Renewable energies are becoming more and more widespread and their implementation policies are in tune with the environment. There is a great deal of effort on the part of civil society to support the good intentions of the large governments that are struggling to fulfil this commitment. And in this context, a new technological evolution appears that reflects one of the values of our company Avant Grup, s, always aware of the environmental needs and climate change, guaranteed by European regulations: Euro VI engines, the new generation for buses with almost no CO2 emissions.