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Transport subsidizes 62 new low-emission zones, 650 electric buses and 500 kilometers of urban bike lanes

2022-02-23T18:47:06.765Z


The ministry awards 1,000 million from the European Recovery Plan to promote sustainable mobility projects in 170 Spanish municipalities


Bike lane on Calle Aragón in Barcelona, ​​one of the most recent in the Catalan capital. MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI (EL PAÍS)

The Ministry of Transport announced this Wednesday the provisional distribution of the first 1,000 million from the European Recovery Plan destined to change urban mobility and make it more sustainable.

This first batch will reach 170 Spanish municipalities (87% of the applicants) who will dedicate them, among other things, to creating 62 new low-emission zones —the Climate Change Law obliges the 149 cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to create one of these areas before 2023—, to buy 650 electric buses and build 500 kilometers of new urban bike lanes.

"Transport is the main responsible for the pollution suffered by urban centers," said the minister, Raquel Sánchez, during the presentation of the aid.

“Decarbonising mobility, therefore, is a public health requirement and an urgent need to mitigate climate change and to meet our international commitments”, she added.

"We have to stop building cities for cars and do it for people and regain prominence for a public space in which relationships that create coexistence are built", she concluded.

According to data published by the ministry, 40% of the budget is dedicated to actions to promote active mobility (on foot and by bicycle) in cities.

Thus, more than 100 million are allocated to expand and improve the cycling network in 78 municipalities, in which it is planned to build more than 500 kilometers of bike lanes, in addition to conditioning 450 kilometers of existing roads.

In addition, the implementation of public rental systems for bicycles and other personal mobility vehicles will be financed, with almost 49 million euros, an action that will also serve to promote intermodality (facilitate the use of several means of transport on the same trip) .

There will also be 243 million to finance 149 actions to widen sidewalks, create new pedestrian itineraries and improve accessibility for walkers.

20% of the funds (around 200 million) will be invested in promoting zero-emission fleets in 44 locations.

Of these, 141 million will be used to renew the urban bus fleets with clean vehicles, with which 650 electric urban buses will be purchased —there is also a renewable hydrogen project— and 45 electric vehicles for garbage collection.

This item also includes initiatives to install electric charging points for these vehicles.

As for other items, there are also those for the reinforcement of urban rail services, the distribution of goods in the last mile and the calming of road traffic, as well as the creation of dissuasive car parks or the establishment of regulated parking areas, in addition to the creation of bus lanes.

I veto the most polluting cars

Among the most innovative of the call is included 11% of the money (just over 100 million) to promote 62 projects for the implementation of low emission zones (ZBE) in as many localities, as well as another 30 complementary actions for their implementation. implementation or reinforcement of existing ones.

The ZBE are areas, located mostly in the center of cities, in which access to the most polluting vehicles is prohibited to improve air quality.

To do this, the environmental label system of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) is taken into account: gasoline cars registered before 2000 and diesel cars registered before 2006 do not have a label.

Label B corresponds to gasoline cars between 2000 and 2006 and diesel cars from 2006 to 2013. Label C corresponds to gasoline cars after 2006 and diesel cars after 2014. Eco:

hybrids in general.

Zero: electric or hybrid with a range of more than 40 kilometers.

Currently there are only two ZBEs in Spain, in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​but the Climate Change Law obliges the 149 localities with more than 50,000 inhabitants —and those with more than 20,000 more polluted— to create one of these areas before to end this year.

In Europe there are more than 300 areas of this type in as many cities, from London to Berlin, and recently both Brussels and Paris have announced that they will install their own restricted traffic areas in the coming months.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-02-23

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