2024-02-13 14:24:01
The Council of Ministers has once again approved the Sustainable Mobility bill. The project, which is part of the objectives agreed with the European Commission in the Addendum to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, thus resumes its parliamentary procedure, after being left in the air after the dissolution of the courts to call elections. The text is the same as that approved in December 2022 and does not include, therefore, either highway tolls or any reference to the limitation of short flights with an alternative of less than 2.5 hours by train agreed between PSOE and Add to the legislative agreement.
He payment for road use was eliminated from this standard, along with the study to carry out this mechanism, after an agreement with the European Comission to replace it with a program to encourage the use of trains as freight transportAs explained by the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, at the press conference after the government meeting.
The Government’s objective is to achieve the 10% of freight per train on average before 2030, in line with the European Union, compared to the current 4%, according to Puente. And the action will govern three axes: develop railway highways, subsidize the fees that Adif charges operators for a minimum period of five years and launch supports and incentives for modal change of road freight and other forms of transport to rail. In the first case, Puente has cited the aid for the Algeciras-Zaragoza connection; the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors or the expansion of the Port of Valencia, as well as a new action “soon in the Barcelona’s port“.
What the draft law on sustainable mobility does give rise to is establish urban tolls in the municipalities by opening the door for city councils to establish a vehicle circulation fee in the low emission zones (ZBE) regulated in the climate change law. To create this rate, a authorization with the rank of lawwhich ensures that the basic conditions are homogeneous throughout the territory, although each municipality may decide whether to implement the rate or not.
There is no reference in the text to the limitation of short flights with an alternative of less than 2.5 hours that PSOE and Sumar agreed to promote in their agreement to form a Government. This measure, if both parties decided to promote it, could be incorporated through amendments in parliamentary proceduresalthough the Government’s interest in this measure has not been reactivated after the announcement and its impact in Spain would be very limited by not affecting connecting flights, as happened in the French case, where it only affects three lines.
More inclusive and digital
The objective of the law is to achieve a more inclusive, sustainable and digital mobility. Thus, the recognition of mobility as a right of “all citizens” so that the different administrations must guarantee that it is “accessible and inclusive”, even in rural areas. and search promote attractive alternatives to the private vehicleas systems public transport on demand, collaborative or shared mobility systems. In fact, the ride-sharing platform Blablacar has celebrated that the Government takes it back since ““it incorporates the first definition of the model at the national level and opens the possibility of its promotion.”
Furthermore, in approaching a future of smart cities, the creation of the Integrated Mobility Data Space (EDIM)where transport companies, infrastructure managers and administrations They will share their data to optimize decision-making when planning the execution of new infrastructure and the launch of new services. And the principles that administrations must follow to regulate and promote the introduction of autonomous vehicles, in all modes, prioritizing safety, environmental sustainability, people’s rights and promoting public-private collaboration. The text establishes a one stop shop to facilitate the realization tests on public roads.
The fourth pillar of the law is the commitment to improve quality of investment and spending decisions in transport and mobilityas well as for including new tools that allow greater public participation, establishing ex ante and ex post analyzes that guarantee the socio-environmental profitability of all actions, and mechanisms to reinforce transparency and accountability.
Plans in companies
In addition, the obligation is introduced for large activity centers and companies with more than 500 workers per center, or 250 per shift, to have sustainable work mobility plans. Likewise, greater demands are established in transport and mobility planning. At the state level, a State Strategic Mobility Planning Instrument (IPEEM) will be developed, and Simplified Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans will be established for municipalities with between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabitants.
At the same time, it is established that sustainable urban mobility plans must contain measures to organize the urban distribution of goods, cooperating with other neighboring municipalities to establish homogeneous criteria to facilitate last-mile transportation and logistics between neighboring urban centers. .
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