Since January 1, 2023, 149 municipalities in our country have the obligation to establish Low Emission Zones (ZBE), preventing the entry of highly polluting vehicles with the aim of “achieving a local reduction in polluting emissions harmful to health.” human or greenhouse gases from combustion vehicles.”
This measure, born in Sweden and aligned with other urban mobility initiatives in the main countries of the European Union, seeks to ensure that cities have better air quality, especially in those areas with higher pollution rates until now.
These ZBEs, together with other measures such as congestion or pollution tolls, can encourage the modification of the mobility habits of citizens and tourists. When a person decides to travel in a specific way, he does so because the benefits linked to the activity he is going to carry out exceed the costs of travel, in economic terms, comfort and travel time.
All of these activities have benefits, such as their positive impact on the economy, but they also generate negative externalities, such as emissions of gases and polluting particles that contribute to climate change and worsen urban air quality. And the transport sector was responsible for the emission of 84.6 million tons of CO2 in Spain, according to data from SEO BirdLife.
One of the most efficient tools is public transportation. Its use significantly reduces the level of use of private cars and other means of private transport. The use of the bus or metro has important advantages, such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or a significant reduction in the noise generated by traffic, in addition to the reduction of minor or major accidents. Last year, the number of travelers who used public transport exceeded 4,369.2 million according to data from the INE, which represented an increase of 28.8% compared to the previous period.
Even so, we are far from the use of private vehicles being exclusively for residual trips within cities. A recent study by the EsadeEcPol Economic Policy Center concluded, based on the volume of urban traffic in Madrid, that the public transport subsidy failed to reduce car use, even in the months with higher fuel prices.
And why this? The aforementioned analysis, in line with other research, reveals that, more than the cost, the majority concern of those who use private transport over public transport is its inefficiency in terms of journey times or incidents. In view of these results, it seems necessary for public transport to adapt to the needs of a greater volume of citizens, since it is the backbone of urban mobility.
Other relevant elements that complement this backbone are discretionary public transport tools, taxis and VTC, which increase the capillarity of collective public transport services and play an important role in the field of sustainable urban mobility. The recent report “The role of VTCs and taxis in the implementation and extension of Low Emission Zones” states that these services are undoubtedly necessary to achieve lower demand for privately owned vehicles and contribute to a better composition of traffic, reducing the use of a private car.
In addition, they also present individual advantages, such as achieving a more efficient match between supply and demand, thanks to digital platforms, which cover underused routes reaching that “last mile” or that allow people who, for various reasons, find it difficult to access the transport to travel. public transport.
How will the imminent implementation of ZBEs affect the mobility of Spanish cities? In view of the aforementioned analyses, we can confirm that collective public transport will continue to be essential for cities and public shared mobility services will play an important role in offering efficient travel with low levels of emissions. Recent estimates, such as the one published in 2020 by the journal Nature, show that taxis and VTCs emit between 40 and 90% less than conventional vehicles, since these services are carried out with fleets of cars that emit less because they are hybrid or electrical.
Never in history have so many mobility solutions coexisted. There is also no precedent for cities as large, dynamic and prosperous as the current ones, or for greater awareness of the need to act in the interest of sustainability and respect for the environment. Along these lines, Janette Sadik-Khan, former transportation commissioner of the city of New York, stated in a recent interview that sustainable mobility is a solid economic development strategy. Therefore, adapting transportation options to the pace and needs of new cities will be the only path to urban sustainability.
XAVIER FAGEDA, MARC TARRÉS, PhDs in Economics and Law, respectively. Researchers from the University of Barcelona
