Madrid's Ban On Polluting Vehicles Cuts Traffic By Nearly 32 Percent In Some Areas (theverge.com) 80
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 this (Score:4, Funny)
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You're not giving the Republican above credit where due, he ADMITTED a reduction/regulation had a positive effect on an area. This is truly a momentous occasion.
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Well, positive from the position of someone with functioning ears, eyes, lungs, taste, smell, who values outdoor activity and/or has business outside of their mother's basement. You're right, Republicans may not value these things.
But they also don't like factual reporting. Your proposed solution seems likely to piss them off even more.
C'est la rue.
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The devil's advocate asserts that poor people tend to own polluting vehicles (they can't pay for new ones or repairs) thus Madrid is discriminating against poor people.
Poor people have to breathe too, and if they're really poor they may not have a car in the first place.
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Going to be interesting to see what the effect on property values will be when people can't easily move stuff in and out of the area.
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Going to be interesting to see what the effect on property values will be when people can't easily move stuff in and out of the area.
It depends probably. Assuming the area is relatively well off, then it can probably afford to transition. Since Madrid is the capital, and seems to be in good shape, at least from my minute of research, it can probably pull it off okay. Sure short term there is likely to be some pain, but long term values might go up, if well, the air is better.
The decision seems reasonable to me, provided there was enough time to transition and such. They also didn't make homeowners change.
Its odd, how people fight ev
Re:Isn't this (Score:4, Informative)
You do realize this ban affects a two square mile area of the city of Madrid and applies to non-residents of the area. Residents are entitled to use their ICE cars while non-residents will have legal ways to move their things into that area.
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Residents are entitled to use their ICE cars
So, Madrid has discovered the next best thing to gated communities.
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Re:Isn't this (Score:4, Insightful)
Going to be interesting to see what the effect on property values will be when people can't easily move stuff in and out of the area.
Since residents are not affected by the ban, and traffic is now lighter, it will be easier to move stuff in and out, and property values should soar to the moon.
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Going to be interesting to see what the effect on property values will be when people can't easily move stuff in and out of the area.
Since residents are not affected by the ban, and traffic is now lighter, it will be easier to move stuff in and out, and property values should soar to the moon.
Oh that's because the people that live there stock the markets and stores and make the deliveries ?
Re: Isn't this (Score:1)
Unlike most of the USA, in most of Spain, cars are not necessary. High speed trains, regional and commuter trains, buses, trams, metro, and taxis work well enough, even in the smaller cities. Plus, most people live in apartments and most amenities are within comfortable walking distance. Oh, and most Spanish cities are stunningly beautiful and a joy to walk around in.
Re: Isn't this (Score:1)
WTF...electric cars do not produce emissions. They run on magic unicorn farts?
Electric cars produce non-local emissions .... As in your electric car polutes miles away at the power plants and destroys the land where the battery toxic metals are mined
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You're missing the story here. These bans are becoming commonplace in Europe yet depending on where dramatically changes the impact. For instance similar rules were introduced in Dutch cities. This has had almost zero impact in traffic in the inner city as people either already had modern cars or were quick to replace them. When looking to solutions to Paris the reduction in dirty diesel didn't have an affect on air-pollution so they required instead a different and more severe approach when air quality get
... and if they banned all vehicles ... (Score:1)
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I'm a bit surprised. (Score:2)
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.
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I'd take eating outside there over Paris any day
Besides the clean air, another advantage of Madrid over Paris is the lack or Parisians.
though admittedly it's been a good 10 years since I've been to Paris.
It hasn't gotten any better.
I'm thinking there isn't a city in Europe that doesn't far exceed these limits.
You should visit Siena in Tuscany. Cars are banned from downtown. It is a beautiful city, and the people are very friendly.
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Besides the clean air, another advantage of Madrid over Paris is the lack or Parisians.
And they don't schedule riots on days ending in "y". The trouble is those overturned, burning cars release a lot of smoke and make it essentially impossible to hit the clean air targets.
Jilly Jones (Score:1)
I'm amazed how one woman can cause so much trouble.
Opportunity (Score:2)
Perfect time to re-enact "C'était un rendez-vous" with a Tesla and the streets of Madrid.
Get ready for "Era una cita"!!!
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C'était un rendez-vous
Please, I beg of all of you.... it's not difficult.
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... and the trick to doing this on my iPhone is?
Re: Opportunity (Score:2)
So actually the exact opposite of what you said about it not being difficult. Maybe you shouldnâ(TM) talk out of your arse so much? This has nothing to do with key modifiers. The correct answer to this problem is that /. should fix how they handle the encoding of the posted data. No other website Iâ(TM)ve seen has this problem.
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There is no problem. They don't do unicode. (thank goodness!) Live with it! Learn how to use your damn phone! Besides, you should be watching the road...
Jeeze! Just like everybody else *It's always the other guys fault*
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Calling them technically incompetent is whining on your part. I'm only mocking your laziness. Unicode is not an improvement. Don't know why you stay if you hate it so badly. If you can't use your phone, try the door. You gettin' my drift yet?
Re: Opportunity (Score:2)
It looks like you donâ(TM)t understand Unicode and all the ways it can be encoded. Itâ(TM)s a shame you donâ(TM)t know enough to contribute here beyond whinging incoherently.
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You never heard me complain about the "incompetent developers". I'm only telling you that Slashdot encodes and renders ASCII text just fine, and you don't have to be a slob. They have no problem, you do. On top of everything else, you're projecting. Take the stick out, buddy, and turn off "Smart Quotes", at least!
No surprise, private cars slow down mass transit (Score:5, Informative)
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.
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Several cities have dedicated bus only lanes Mass transit then works faster is used more and moves more people.
Dedicating lanes to buses and integrating them into the larger transit system with single-ticket transfers between rail and bus (where applicable) is known as bus rapid transit, and it is the only way to make buses efficient for riders. However, it makes streets less efficient for everyone else and it makes more sense to install elevated PRT in the long run because buses suck too.
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BRT has the advantage of being more flexible, and being able to use a lot of existing infrastructure. Rail is expensive per mil
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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."
Two Hour Parking Limit? (Score:2)
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 Parlia
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Because diesels pollute MUCH more than gas vehicles.
http://theconversation.com/fact-check-are-diesel-cars-really-more-polluting-than-petrol-cars-76241
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Because diesels pollute MUCH more than gas vehicles.
That's due to regulations. Gassers produce just as much soot as diesels [slashdot.org] and virtually all of it is the most-hazardous PM2.5. Urea injection all but eliminates NOx emissions, but DPFs not only produce them but they also result in diesels emitting fine soot just like gasoline vehicles. A diesel with Urea injection and an EGR and no other emissions system will produce less harmful emissions than a gasser, all else being equal.
All ICEs ultimately suck rocks, though, and should go away.
Intended side effect of banning poor people (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Intended side effect of banning poor people (Score:4, Informative)
Poor people don't vote as much.
Roads are already biased against the poor. They are subsidized via the general fund, yet frequently built for automobiles, which are costly to purchase and maintain. If roads were orientated towards bus users, cyclists, and pedestrians, that would be much more usable by the poor. Or heck, even 50cc scooters - they are far cheaper than the equivalent motor vehicles.
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"or heck, even 50cc scooters - they are far cheaper than the equivalent motor vehicles."
They're also far worse than cars in terms of per-km emissions other than CO2.
http://publications.tno.nl/pub... [publications.tno.nl] (2nd half of the report is in English.)
Re:Intended side effect of banning poor people (Score:4, Informative)
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Poor people will now consider the environmental impact of their car purchases, not just the cheapness. Poor people shouldn't be allowed to pollute more just because they are poor.
Yeah, they should have been warning people that this was coming for years so they could adapt, but I don't have a problem with this.
Structure by fiat - Madrid Core (Score:2)
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.
Does it work? (Score:3)
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.
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Sure, banning polluting cars will drop the numbers of cars.
That depends on the city. A 32% drop is actually newsworthy. Many European cities have introduced similar restrictions with very little effect.
How long (Score:2)
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?