Dozens of cities in Portugal are celebrating European Car Free Day (DESC) this Friday, with streets closed to traffic. This day is used by the environmental association Zero to measure air quality in Lisbon.
The association took advantage of the event to carry out a “marathon of air quality measurements at several critical points in the city of Lisbon,” it announced in a statement, explaining that it wanted to understand what the air quality levels are in Lisbon at DESC. .
In Lisbon there are several initiatives dedicated to this day, but no street closures are planned, unlike what happens for example in Gondomar or Vila Nova de Gaia, Vendas Novas or Celorico da Beira, Mealhada or Vagos .
In the capital, the first DESC was celebrated in 2000 by closing several city highways and on that day thousands of cars did not even enter the capital.
Due to the success of DESC in this and subsequent years, European Mobility Week was launched in 2002, which has since taken place in the European Union from 16 to 22 September.
The goal of both initiatives is to encourage smooth and sustainable mobility, preventing greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time improving air quality and noise levels (DESC came about as a result of the European Air Quality Directive).
According to a recently published Zero statement, gas emissions from road transport in Portugal increased by 6.2% compared to the period before the pandemic. “Emissions associated with diesel and gasoline consumption in road transport continue to rise.”
This Friday, the association, using an air quality measuring device (carried on a bicycle), will be in various locations around the city to measure levels of, for example, nitrogen dioxide or respirable and fine particles.
According to Zero, the action aims to draw attention “to air quality problems in Portuguese cities, to the urgency of removing cars from cities, to the need to strengthen public transport and to the health consequences” of pollutant concentration levels. higher than the values recommended by the World Health Organization.
Last year, to mark the date, Zero published a study that found one car-free day a week would save between 03% and 05% of diesel and petrol consumed in urban areas.
Figures published in the press in 2018 showed that approximately 370,000 vehicles enter Lisbon every day.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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