The challenges of mobility in the metropolitan areas of Porto and Lisbon, which concentrate more than 50% of the Portuguese population, will be discussed on Wednesday and September 20, seeking to find solutions for the territory and for the people.
The city of Porto will host the first conference on Wednesday and the second conference will be held on the 20th in Lisbon. The conferences are organized by the Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT), in collaboration with the two municipalities, and are divided into four panels, with the aim of debating to make mobility greener in the future.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the president of AMT, Ana Paula Vitorino, said that the conferences will be held in two metropolitan areas that, together, “have more than 50% of the Portuguese population” and that this is the first line of importance.
We are talking about the discussion and consideration of the transport and mobility system in two metropolitan areas that together have more than 50% of the Portuguese population and what is done in these two areas of the country affects 50% of the population”.
On the other hand, the official who heads the transport regulator recalled that Europe, and the world, is already experiencing “climate chaos and not a climate emergency,” adding that in Portugal “around 28% of greenhouse gas emissions greenhouse come from transport, not buses”, and of these, he underlined, “60.6% of transport emissions come from cars, which come and go every morning and afternoon”.
“We have to find solutions for this, which do not involve forcing people to stop using a private car, but we have to increase the attractiveness of public transport and at the same time [que] less travel is required. These are the things that will be discussed.”
According to Ana Paula Vitorino, the invited panel, which ranges from mayors to representatives of universities and research centers, including transport companies and the regulator of the entire system -AMT- will debate and seek possible solutions because in isolation “no one can” .
I hope that solutions will be produced that will not be implemented in the next month, but will be deepened and must be implemented quickly,” he added.
The four panels will have the same themes both in Porto and in Lisbon, the first dedicated to “incentives for the use of public transport and promotion of accessibility, proximity and social and urban cohesion”, in which the mobility systems in the cities and incentives for their use, as well as the contribution of urban policies to the fight against climate change and the digital and ecological transition.
The second panel will be dedicated to “The planning and territorial organization of mobility and transport and its contribution to decarbonization” and will discuss territorial organization and the integration of networks of various modes in metropolitan areas, as well as their respective contribution. to the increase in the efficiency of the system, in a context of decarbonisation.
The third panel, entitled “Financing the environmental transition”, will discuss how services of general economic interest should be financed, which underlie the definition of public service obligations (PSOs). The environmental transition and the challenges of decarbonization imply increasingly demanding PSOs (Green PSOs) that require a reflection on the respective sources of financing, public and private, is the motto of the discussion.
The fourth panel will address “the concept of ‘Smart Cities’ and the promotion of the digital transition”, which implies the simplification of procedures in the context of the challenges posed by digital platforms and the management of the volume of data and information related to multiple urban activities, essential for the proper functioning of smart cities.
In addition to the presence of the mayors of Lisbon and Porto and the presidents of the metropolitan councils of the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, the presence of the Minister of the Environment and Climate Action and the Secretary of State for Urban Mobility is also expected. . .
Source: Observadora
