Finding a better way of getting from A to B

Two MEPs discuss sustainable transport.

Gyula Hegyi

Traffic jams are one of the biggest challenges to our city life. The air pollution harms the health from the population, the uncontrollable traffic destroys the historic city structures and the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from transport undermine our fight against climate change. It is almost perverse in the age of climate change to burn huge quantities of fossil energy for individual transport, when there is a possibility to shift to public transport. As Parliament’s rapporteur on a sustainable urban development strategy, I think that there are important issues in this field (such as green areas, heat waves, revitalisation of the city centres, integration of migrants, etc), but in these days sustainable transport seems to be the most crucial one.

The European Union always speaks about the importance of public transport - to have fewer cars and more tramways, buses, underground trains. But in practice, the EU does not do anything or does very little to improve the situation. I proposed in my report that all European cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants should make a 5% shift from individual to public transport in five years. It is a rather modest goal; however, my original proposal for a binding target was watered down and changed to a ‘recommendation’, which is not more than wishful thinking. I wanted to recommend the congestion charge as an excellent tool to reduce traffic jams, but it was voted out from the report. Perhaps my Conservative and Liberal colleagues did not read the wise remark of Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, arguing for a similar system: "Using economics to influence public behaviour is something this country is built on - it’s called capitalism." If we have capitalism, we should use financial and economic tools not only for individual profit, but also for good collective goals - such as cleaner cities and a healthier environment.

Before the political changes, the new member states - such as my own country, Hungary - had excellent networks of public transport. The proportion of public transport as a part of overall transport was far higher than in the old member states. But it is decreasing day by day and we are at the eleventh hour to stop this process. We see every day the aggressive advertising campaign of car factories, while there is nobody arguing publicly for public transport. According to the general attitude, public transport (‘ass transportation’ in Hungarian) is only for the poor. And in a competitive society nobody wants to seem poor. The public transport networks are run-down and uncomfortable. It is crucial to provide EU funds to improve them before everybody shifts to individual transport, destroying all of our environmental ambitions for cities in the new member states. (Of course, the same goes for long-distance transport, where the railways and inland shipping should get most of the funds.) Public transport - as the only real sustainable kind of transport - really deserves an image campaign, both in the east and the west. It could be an important job for the European Commission.

There are other useful tools to reduce air pollution. Low-emission zones are very important, in which only the less polluting vehicles are allowed to enter the city centres. Speed limits can also play an important role, as they have done in Graz, Austria - a 30 kilometre-per-hour speed limit. My home city of Budapest has an expanding zone of pedestrian streets which decrease the traffic and revitalise the old centre of the city. Reductions in the CO2 and other pollutant emissions of cars are also important, because although we can reduce individual transport we cannot stop it totally.

Public transport has a social function. Everybody should have access to transport, to the essence of mobility, even if he or she does not have a car. Providing transport through local, regional, national and EU policies is a crucial part of our democratic principles.

• Hungarian Socialist MEP Gyula Hegyi is a member of the Parliament’s environment committee and drafted the assembly’s response to the Commission’s thematic strategy on the urban environment.

Elisabeth Schroedter

Urban mobility has been increased significantly in the last 50 years. In general this is a sign of prosperity for each individual. But each year there are three million new cars licensed. And the bitter consequences are paid by the cities and towns: air pollution, more and more traffic jams, noise and intolerably high death rates as well as a high number of injuries. The traffic also weakens the emotional bonds of neighbourhoods and districts. Pollution and greenhouse gases caused by the everyday traffic in the cities make a significant contribution to global warming.

If inhabitants of Germany’s urban areas would only walk, cycle or skate for half of the distances below five kilometres then the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) would be reduced by 4.5 million tonnes per year. This is equal to the total emissions of all private households in Berlin.

In many cities inhabitants have found alternatives to cars. They consider sustainable mobility as a great gain in the quality of life. As an alternative they use bicycles or they walk. But they do not want to lose quality in their mobility. Thus they claim other priorities in sustainable management. They demand from the local government more place for bicycles, safe bicycle lanes, rights of way for weaker road users, technological improvements and an optimised public traffic. This civil movement has begun to convert public areas in the city districts into attractive habitats and is giving positive economic stimuli.

In some regions of Europe, citizens’ action committees for sustainable mobility have already established a huge network of active cities. In North Rhine-Westphalia 43 local communities, including Cologne, founded a network of bicycle-friendly communities. Their policy of transport and urban management follows the general principle of ‘non-motorised mobility’. This network has developed the following aims. Local shops and services are to be decentralised. Inhabitants should have shorter distances to travel and be able to use bicycles easily, walk or skate. Major trends such as healthy living and sports are combined with mobility in the city. The creation of parks in which car traffic is not permitted and which are connected to each other is another important aim. The new concept of a city is supposed, on the one hand, to make a life without cars more attractive and on the other hand to give more space for leisure activities and rest.

I fully support the campaign of the European Commission organising a Mobility Week 2007 in September. This campaign is very important for many people, because it supports their ways of thinking and their ways of life. More and more people are discovering the advantages of sustainable mobility and are changing their behaviour.

The European Mobility Week 2007 will take place on 16-22 September and will be a week full of events related to sustainable mobility. People will get involved in the debate on the necessity of changes in behaviour regarding mobility. The highlight of the week will be the Car Free Day. Cities from all over Europe will join in this event.

In the end a city following this model brings along a new concept for streets and neighbourhoods, because they become a place of meetings and communication. To create more space for pedestrians, skaters, cyclists, the elderly and for children the area where cars are allowed has to be divided into new parts. The new formula is 3:4:3. That means that road-users who do not use a car get six-tenths of the road and only four parts belong to the car drivers (including parking places). The streets are built without barriers. Thus the elderly and wheelchair users are mobilised and independent again. Streets contain a spirit of life and are not only used as a parking place for cars, because the concept includes parking places in parking garages. The reconstruction of districts and the living spaces can only be realised with the citizens. In forums, citizens themselves look for optimal opportunities and create their own concepts. Thereby a high acceptance of new concepts, like the parking prohibition in residential streets, is developing among citizens.

• German Green MEP Elisabeth Schroedter is a member of the Parliament’s regional development committee.

Two MEPs discuss sustainable transport.