Urban mobility

This is the most universal way to get around but also the most vulnerable. In the last decade, walking has been crowded out as public spaces for pedestrians have been lost to infrastructure and motorized traffic. However, the positive effects of this physical activity, such as promoting a healthy lifestyle and improving air quality, have encouraged new models for cities like the “15-minute city”, in which the inhabitants are only a quarter of an hour away on foot from all essential services. 

Bicycles are an efficient mode of transportation, as they do not require any kind of fuel and may be purchased at a very reasonable price. They are also sustainable as, when they travel around the city, they do not emit greenhouse gases and they relieve traffic congestion. Lastly, the physical activity involved in their use improves the riders’ health and reduces stress levels.

If we compare it with the use of private cars, public transportation is more efficient, reduces polluting emissions, occupies less space, and is more economical for users. Its possibilities for development depend on the characteristics of the city but almost all of them tend to have three modes of transportation.

• Firstly, buses, an affordable and safe method for traveling short distances. 
• Then, the subway, which moves a large number of travelers and does not suffer from the ill effects of traffic jams or extreme weather events. 
• In addition, many cities have a good railroad network, which is indispensable for connecting the outskirts with centers of interest. 

Cars play a vital role in urban mobility so it is not a question of penalizing their use but of encouraging more environmentally committed management of them. To do this, efficient infrastructures need to be implemented, such as parking lots on the outskirts of the city connected with intermodal mass transit stations, and sustainable solutions, such as electrification, hydrogen, and renewable fuels, including biofuels and synthetic fuels. 

Today, there are two ways of sharing vehicles.

• Carpooling consists of sharing a car for medium and long journeys in order to maximize the number of seats occupied, reduce the number of cars on the road, reduce emissions, and reduce traffic congestion. In this case, a very obvious example is when various colleagues share a car to go to work because they live near each other. 
• Car-sharing: a new method of transportation in which a car is shared, but not one’s own. In other words, it is based on renting a car for a short time. One example is WiBLE, the hybrid plug-in vehicle service for traveling around Madrid and near Repsol, which will encourage sustainable mobility in the city and the surrounding area.