Between 18 and 20 September, the European Club of Intermodal Regions and Cities was in Pontevedra, Spain, to learn about the first pedestrian mobility scheme to be developed across an entire European city.
Spanish mobility has been under the spotlight in 2014. Following on from Barcelona in June, it was the turn of Pontevedra to welcome participants of the European Club of Intermodal Regions and Cities – a study visit programme launched by the Intermodes Congress – between 18 and 20 September.
Unlike the Catalan capital, selected for its efforts in the realm of clean intermodality, the Galician city, located in the north west of the Iberian Peninsula, was chosen for its success in developing the first pedestrian mobility scheme across an entire city over the last 15 years.
Indeed, the town of 83,000 inhabitants can be proud of having achieved a modal share for pedestrians and cyclists of 66 %, compared to 30 % for cars. Between 1999 and 2013, it also managed to reduce the number of vehicles entering the city centre each day by more than 31,000, with CO2 emissions dropping by 66 % over the same period.
That has all been made possible thanks to strong political will and several measures tailored to fit the features of the city, such as the development of parking spaces outside the centre and speed limits. The mayor of Pontevedra, Miguel Anxo Fernandez, now hopes to ensure the good work continues, especially on the outskirts of the city. Indeed, in contrast to the centre, road traffic has grown by 30 % since 1999 in this part of the municipality, and certain measures still need to be taken.
The European Club of Intermodal Regions and Cities is a group which allows participants to learn about innovative mobility schemes being developed by European cities. Created by Intermodes – an annual convention on intermodality held in Brussels each year – the Club introduced participants to Norwegian intermodality in Oslo between 18 and 19 June 2013, and public transport accessibility in Brussels in February 2011. Most recently, the Club headed to France for the first time, with a visit organised in Bordeaux between 2 and 3 October. Naturally, Bus & Car will be reporting on that event very shortly.