{"id":1415,"date":"2019-08-01T06:38:57","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T06:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/?p=1415"},"modified":"2019-08-01T06:38:59","modified_gmt":"2019-08-01T06:38:59","slug":"mayor-halts-madrid-low-emissions-zone-despite-its-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/mayor-halts-madrid-low-emissions-zone-despite-its-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Halts Madrid Low-Emissions Zone Despite Its Success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The new mayor of Madrid has\u00a0the city’s congestion pricing program stopped, even with\u00a0early proof\u00a0that it reduced traffic and pollution after it entered into force in November last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the first big European city to reverse the creation of a low-emission zone, a concept that has become more popular in recent years as the European Union seeks to apply new clean air restrictions across the entire continent. The move led thousands of citizens to protest in the streets of the city<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The previous mayor of\nMadrid introduced one of the most ambitious low-emission schemes in\nEurope, called Madrid Central. With the help of security cameras, the city\u2019s\ngoverning administration fined insulting drivers in vehicles with a high\nemission of 90 euros or around $ 102 for moving into the zone. Public\ntransport, residents, some delivery vehicles and drivers in electric or licensed\ncars with low emissions were exempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madrid Central covers 472 hectares and under the program, only electric, hybrid and residents\u2019 vehicles had unlimited access to the city center. Petrol vehicles made before the year 2000 and diesel cars made before 2006 had a transitory period to access until 2020 and were allowed to park in car parks instead of\u00a0the\u00a0streets. It was one of the most significant policies of the previous mayor, a former judge and left-wing politician, Manuela Carmena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim of Madrid Central was to cut nitrogen dioxide levels to fight against air pollution, also the plan had to make the city more attractive. Since putting into operation in December 2018, the project has been considered as a leading example and not only for its efficiency fighting against air pollution but also because it prioritizes pedestrians, bicycles and public transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, during elections in May, a new mayor from Partido Popular named Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez-Almeida. A leading candidate president of the region, who is from the same political party, claimed\u00a0congestion is part of\u00a0the identity of the city and that it shows that the street is always alive. Madrid’s nightlife goes hand in hand with traffic jams, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain currently faces fines and other penalties if it does not\nreduce pollution. Mart\u00ednez-Almeida says he is only suspending the emission zone\nfor three months while studying alternative ways to improve air quality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Verge<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new mayor of Madrid has\u00a0the city’s congestion pricing program stopped, even with\u00a0early proof\u00a0that it reduced traffic and pollution after it entered into force in November last year. It is the first big European city to reverse the creation of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[33,2],"tags":[59,100,106],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1417,"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions\/1417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interplextransportation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}