Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory1 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System Seminars on Sustainable Development General Theme: Territory Session on: MOBILITY Responsible Prof.: José Manuel Viegas Introduction Strains on the System

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory2 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System SOCIAL ROLE OF MOBILITY r Cost reductions and speed increases in mobility have had a dialetic relationship (cause and effect) with :  Urban sprawl (distances increase)  Higher sophistication and fixed costs of public facilities of multiple types (increased support population and access distances) r (Motorized) mobility has become a necessary instrument for access and fruition of  Goods and services  Social contacts  Tranquility

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory3 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System MOBILITY AS A RIGHT r Has mobility become a right, associated with modernity?  What levels of universality?  What levels of guarantee of effective provision? r It is a badly distributed right across society:  Strong correlation between income (or instruction) level and mobility levels, no matter whether daily or seasonal (holidays), residential or professional

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory4 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System MOBILITY DISTRIBUTION AND ALTERNATIVE FORMULATIONS r Can we speak of minimum rights? How to formulate?  The right to fruition of motorized mobility  Ubiquity of the road network  “Devolution” of mobility to physically impaired people  Subsidization of urban public transport (in general and towards citizens with greater needs)  What minimum levels of demand to enjoy direct access to infrastructure or services of various levels of sophistication / cost?  The right to live well without motorized mobility  Careful urban planning, preserving / recovering neighborhood units and their multifunctionality

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory5 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System AUTOMOBILE AND SOCIAL COHESION r Automobile as dominant form of mobility r Organization / optimization of spaces and functions to serve car-based clients  Access difficulty to certain functions when not in a car (on foot, in public transport);  The right to quality of life without a car  Even as an option, not for lack of money r Land use and mobility policies, allowing / stimulating different behaviors  Suburbs (US since the 50’s, Portugal and other EU countries now)  The Dutch ABC law

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory6 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System EVILS OF ABUNDANCE r Right to mobility vs. Right to tranquility and clean environment r Congestion and gridlock (of citizens and of the city)  New highway construction, traffic induction, another saturation cycle  Loss of character by the city and its appropriation by the automobile  Can we hope for mobility without congestion?  “Demand management” approaches: Is it accepatble to get to quality of service through rationing and or prices?  What suppression of the right to mobility is involved?  What conflict between equity and quality of service?  Analogy with other sectors (education, health, justice) r Traffic (un)safety problems

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory7 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System WORLD TRADE AND GOOD TRANSPORT r Trade is indispensable as the basis for economic growth  Ever greater volumes, ever farther  With ever greater requirements for quality of service  Growing always more than production

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory8 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System IN EUROPE, FREIGHT ALMOST ONLY BY ROAD OR SEA

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory9 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System INCREASING PRESSURE FROM TRUCKS

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory10 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System TWO NEW THREATS: CLIMATE CHANGES AND SCARCITY OF FOSSIL FUELS r As the evidence of climate changes induced by human activity grows, pressure to reduce Greenhouse Gases Emissions  Especially difficult in Transport  No efficient alternatives in the short-term  Long life of road vehicles generates long gap between introduction of new technologies and their dominance in the market (~10 years)  Best hope today is for a 50% reduction (from 1990) up to 2050 r As alternative fuels take long time to reach significant scale, growing demand (and speculation) puts pressure on petrol prices  Affecting economic growth while not enough decoupling ) is achieved  But also bringing risks of war to ensure provision

Seminars on Sustainable Development - General Theme: Territory11 MOBILITY – Part 1: Strains on the System INTERVENTIONS TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY: Possibilities and Difficulties  Cleaner, safer, more efficient mobility  Substitution / Repositioning / Reduction of Mobility  Lower dependency on fossil fuels