Urban tolls, financing of public transport, plans to cycle to work... this will be the sustainable mobility law

The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday in first reading the Law on Sustainable Mobility and Transport Financing, a rule that was left at the doors of the BOE in the last legislature due to the advance of the general elections.

The future standard considers clean and healthy mobility as a social right that administrations must promote, and includes innovations such as state financing of urban public transport — something that now only occurs in some cities — and the obligation for large companies to have plans to encourage transportation by bike or electric car.

In addition, it opens the door for cities that want to complete their low-emission zones with an urban toll, like the one that already works in London.

“We are going to process this emergency law in Parliament because it is a commitment to Europe,” the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, said this Tuesday.

Indeed, Spain agreed with the European Commission to approve this rule as one of the requirements to receive Next Generation funds, so the Executive will try to pass the parliamentary procedures as soon as possible.

“We want it to raise a high degree of consensus, since in its processing the idea of ​​a great agreement was already glimpsed,” he continued during his appearance after the Council of Ministers.

In his opinion, “the law is necessary because of what mobility means in economic terms, 13% of household spending, creates more than 800,000 jobs and represents more than 5% of GDP;

also from the social point of view, because mobility is a right and it is important that the law recognizes it;

And for sustainability, it is necessary to address what mobility means in terms of pollution, 27% of greenhouse gases have to do with mobility,” he added.

According to the minister, the law has four pillars: it recognizes mobility as a citizen right, that is, having a transport and mobility ecosystem;

sustainability, because we have to move from cities of cars to cities of people;

The third is the efficiency of spending on both transportation and infrastructure;

and the fourth pillar is digitalization and the commitment to innovation.

Thus, the law aims to change the concept of transport, generally associated with the car and large infrastructures, to that of sustainable mobility, more focused on active mobility - on foot and by bike - and public transport.

The right of all citizens is recognized to enjoy a sustainable and fair mobility system “that allows the free exercise of their constitutional rights and freedoms” and “meets the needs of the least favored people and areas affected by depopulation processes.” , and in particular, pay special attention to cases of forced mobility.”

It is considered that good public transportation “improves the quality of life of citizens.”

Precisely one of the fundamental points of the text is that it guarantees the financial contribution of the State for sustainable mobility in the urban and metropolitan area, something that until now only occurred in some large cities - such as Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia -, and with certain subsidies to some municipalities.

The new regulation aims to create a homogeneous state financing system for the entire territory "to facilitate that all citizens can access a quality service regardless of the financing capacity of the local entity that owns the service."

These aid are a historic demand for the sector, in serious financial crisis since the pandemic, and similar to those that occur in other European countries.

The standard creates the National Sustainable Mobility System as a tool to coordinate policies with all the organizations involved, from the central government - competent, for example, in Cercanías and Medium Distance trains - to the autonomous communities - which usually manage the consortia. metropolitan—and the town councils—responsible, in general, for buses and trams—.

The future organization is considered an essential instrument “to allow the coordination, collaboration and effectiveness of the public mobility policies of the different public administrations, promoting their economic, social and environmental sustainability” and will allow coordinated measures to be taken regarding mobility.

Congestion rates

In addition, the law will provide the first legal support so that municipalities that want to can introduce an urban toll to guarantee adequate air quality and reduce emissions produced by motor vehicles.

The so-called “congestion charge” is already applied in some European cities such as Stockholm, Oslo, Gothenburg (Sweden), Milan and London, and consists of vehicles having to pay to access the central area of ​​the city — with some exceptions, such as those of residents or delivery people.

In the British capital, the measure has managed to reduce traffic by a third.

In Spain, both Barcelona and Valencia have studied a similar measure at some point, but before considering it they need a state regulation that gives legal support to the plan.

This text will guarantee that the basic conditions are homogeneous throughout the territory, although later each City Council will be able to decide whether to implement the urban toll or not.

In addition, the legislation introduces the obligation for companies with 500 workers (or 250 per shift) to have sustainable work mobility plans, which are considered an essential tool to advance the promotion of this type of mobility in the workplace.

Many large companies already have similar plans, but for the first time they now appear in a state standard.

In any case, it does not require companies to have a minimum content of the plans, nor do they necessarily have to include any type of mandatory measures, and the options are broad: promotion of active mobility (on foot or by bicycle), collective transport, electric mobility, shared or collaborative mobility, flexibility in rush hour, teleworking...

The rule leaves out for now the payment for use of highways, as it was included in the first versions - although it could be taken up again in the parliamentary process.

“The pay-per-use mechanism for highways was eliminated when the rule was sent to Parliament,” Puente pointed out.

"We reached an agreement with the European Union in which this payment is replaced by a program for the incorporation of goods into the train with three premises: a program for the development of railway highways, the subsidy of rail freight transport charges, and a support and incentive program for the modal shift from road freight to rail.”

The objective is to increase the share of freight transport by train from the current 4% to at least 10% – the European average.

“We are already developing railway highways in which we are going to invest 1.7 billion, such as the Algeciras-Zaragoza one,” the minister concluded.

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