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Madrid's Ban On Polluting Vehicles Cuts Traffic By Nearly 32 Percent In Some Areas (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Last Friday, Madrid's tough new vehicle emissions controls went into effect, resulting in a drop in traffic by nearly 32 percent in some parts of the city, reports El Pais. The new rules impose strict restrictions on which vehicles can enter an area of just under two square miles in the city's downtown. The plan, known as Madrid Central, is an attempt to lower the city's nitrogen dioxide levels, which have exceeded European limits since 2010 and are thought to cause around 3,000 premature deaths per year, according to one study.
The exact drop in traffic varied between different areas in the zone. One area, San Bernardo, saw a modest reduction of just over 5 percent, while Gran Via saw the highest reduction of 31.8 percent. Although Reuters reports that traffic continues to be heavy around the perimeter of the zone, El Pais claims that even there, traffic levels were down by between 1 and 2 percent. The lack of congestion also had benefits for public transport, with bus speeds on one highway increasing by 14 percent. "Petrol and diesel cars registered before 2000 and 2006, respectively, will be restricted, while hybrid vehicles will be allowed to enter the area and park for a maximum of two hours," reports The Verge. "However, residents living in the controlled areas will not be affected by the ban. Petrol and diesel taxis will continued to be allowed in the area until 2022. Electric cars, which produce no emissions, driven by non-residents will also be allowed to freely enter the area."
The exact drop in traffic varied between different areas in the zone. One area, San Bernardo, saw a modest reduction of just over 5 percent, while Gran Via saw the highest reduction of 31.8 percent. Although Reuters reports that traffic continues to be heavy around the perimeter of the zone, El Pais claims that even there, traffic levels were down by between 1 and 2 percent. The lack of congestion also had benefits for public transport, with bus speeds on one highway increasing by 14 percent. "Petrol and diesel cars registered before 2000 and 2006, respectively, will be restricted, while hybrid vehicles will be allowed to enter the area and park for a maximum of two hours," reports The Verge. "However, residents living in the controlled areas will not be affected by the ban. Petrol and diesel taxis will continued to be allowed in the area until 2022. Electric cars, which produce no emissions, driven by non-residents will also be allowed to freely enter the area."
Isn't cause and effect amazing? You ban some cars and lo, there are fewer cars! It's like magic.
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I love Madrid, it's honestly one of the cleanest and less stinky cities I've been in. I'd take eating outside there over Paris any day though admittedly it's been a good 10 years since I've been to Paris. I'm thinking there isn't a city in Europe that doesn't far exceed these limits.
Perfect time to re-enact "C'était un rendez-vous" with a Tesla and the streets of Madrid.
Get ready for "Era una cita"!!!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
We see this in other cities were they limit private cars and prioritize buses. Several cities have dedicated bus only lanes Mass transit then works faster is used more and moves more people.
I'm curious as to just how a two hour parking limit affects air pollution. Seems to me that parked vehicles generally produce ZERO nitrogen dioxide.
Though I suppose it's possible that in Madrid they generally leave their cars running when they park them....
On an unrelated note, I thought diesels were supposed to be cleaner then gasoline engines. So why do they allow older gasoline engines than diesels (2000+ for gas, 2006+ for diesels)? Does the Mayor of Madrid (or Prime Minister, since I assume Parliament meets in Madrid) drive a 2000 gasoline car or something similar?
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
I don't think this is a bad move since getting cars out of cities is a smart priority. But this has the effect of banning poor people. Late model cars can come in but if you drive an older car you are SOL. Similar to how Mexico City used to have even/odd number days (maybe they still do) where you could only drive every other day based on your license plate. Rich people all suddenly had two cars!
More effective than technology is the architecture to solving a problem which Madrid deserves credit in the making. Let it be the Madrid Core answer to ICE, NO2 and protection against pollutants that disrupt human health. Elevate to world stage, incorporate its metrics by which all further cities compliance are measured.
Sure, banning polluting cars will drop the numbers of cars. The important part will be, does it actually lead to a drop in NO2 in that area? It should, but it will be good to see actual data and even better to see if that affects the death rate there too.
BRT has the advantage of being more flexible, and being able to use a lot of existing infrastructure. Rail is expensive per mile. BRT uses existing lanes with existing right of ways.
But dedicating lanes to buses is politically unpopular in the US. Mass transit is mostly unpopular in the US. Part of that is geographical, but even in major metro areas, we'd rather add another traffic lane than increase bus service, even though we've been adding traffic lanes for decades and traffic isn't getting better.
BRT is way more than just a few dedicated lanes and some cross ticketing (the latter of which is not actually a requirement for BRT, if it were then BRT would be hard in countries that don't have a working commuter rail system or have more conventional mass transit systems.) If that's all that were needed, it'd be a spectacularly low bar as most big cities in Europe have bus lanes already.
BRT usually combines dedicated roads and median-separated lanes with light rail style stations, running a system similar to light rail but with rubber tires and no track.
While it probably has niches, it's not that great an idea, existing mostly because politicians hate trains. But adding bus lanes to a city does not mean it has "BRT", it just means the buses find it easier to get around the city. Those buses will continue to stop at normal bus stops. They just won't be part of the traffic.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Will it be before the working class of Madrid rebel and start burning the town to show the know-it-alls who really is in control?
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NOx is generated by natural processes and is critical for plant growth.
If a certain amount of a substance is beneficial, then enormous amounts of it should be waaaay more beneficial!
There is no such thing as "too much of a good thing."