Logroño, (EFE).- The general director of Traffic, Pere Navarro, has assured this Tuesday that “the future of cities is at stake in the field of mobility” and, those that solve it well, “will attract talent and investment” while others will be “caught up in noise, congestion and pollution.”
Accompanied by the mayor of Logroño, Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, he has participated in an informative meeting prior to speaking at the conference on “Sustainable mobility and health”.
«You have to take risks to advance in mobility policies. You don’t want problems?: Don’t do anything », she has pointed out.
Thus, he recalled that when the first streets were pedestrianised, some thought that local commerce was going to collapse, as was the construction of bike lanes or the installation of charging points for electric vehicles, which are measures prior to promoting the use of the bicycle or these cars.
Navarro has pointed out that one of the main “challenges” in urban mobility is focused on solving the urban distribution of goods, because it is an activity that has increased a lot in recent years and “it must be solved”.
Mobility to improve road safety
The General Director of Traffic has verified that, in order to improve road safety, mobility has to work, which has changed a lot in recent years and must adapt.
In this sense, he cited factors that affect urban mobility, such as the aging of the population, with 9.5 million people in Spain over the age of 65, who are “large users of public transport and walking”. .
These 9.5 million people “vote and will set the political agenda,” he assured.
In addition, young people have opted for “shared” transport, with the use of bicycles, cars, motorbikes and scooters; and other mobility concepts have been introduced, such as the environment and new technologies.
Navarro stressed that he has heard “much and good” talk about all the projects that are being developed in Logroño in the field of mobility and has placed the city alongside other “references” such as Pontevedra or Bilbao.
«The 20th century was that of the big cities. The XXI will be that of intermediate cities, thanks to the internet and improved transportation. In Madrid and Barcelona the inconveniences no longer outweigh the advantages », he has opined.
Limiting speed saves lives
Limiting speed to 30 kilometers per hour on one-way streets, in force since May 2021, made it possible to reduce deaths on urban roads by 14 percent in Spain, Navarro stressed, and run-overs fell by 23% and another 26% the deceased over 60 years of age.
«Spain is a benchmark in road safety, it is ahead of European countries such as France, Belgium and Austria. They are only surpassed by Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands, which do not have motorcycles or receive 70 million tourists a year, “he added.
For its part, Hermoso de Mendoza has opted to develop policies of “healthy, sustainable, but, above all, safe mobility.”
In the last decade, 20 people have been run over to death in Logroño, he has detailed, and there have also been many “serious” traffic accidents related to the way they drive and move around the city.
For this reason, he has advocated taking advantage of European funds to achieve the urban transformation of Logroño and achieve “a safer city”. EFE