Air pollution is now so bad in many of Europe’s most popular cities that holidaymakers on city breaks may be smoking the equivalent of up to four cigarettes in a four-day trip. Figures from T&E show that taking a holiday in a polluted city could be harmful to human health, when holidays are supposed to be refreshing breaks that enhance health.
The Commission has issued a transport and technology communication which calls on governments to ‘break away from conventional thinking’ in an attempt to boost new forms of transport energy to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Fears that electric and hybrid cars are no better environmentally than oil-fuelled cars have led to a study which shows that electrics and hybrids are better over the whole of their life, but not by as much as was originally thought.
Spain is to abandon its temporary 110 km/h motorway speed limit.
Officials in the Indian province of Rajasthan are so worried about population growth that they are offering couples a free car if they allow themselves to be sterilised.
Most Europeans are prepared to compromise on the price and features of their car if doing so will reduce harmful emissions. That is the finding of a new Eurobarometer survey conducted in all 27 EU member states.
Spain is reducing the cost of commuter and short-distance rail tickets and has cut its motorway speed limit from 120 km/h to 110 to help people save money following the sudden rise in oil prices following the recent upheavals in the Arab world.
Opinion by Jos Dings - T&E Director
Did we miss something? Last year, the European Commission didn’t propose a single new legislative measure to clean up transport. To be fair, it has been spending most of its time worrying about the future of the Eurozone. As a result, for T&E this was the sort of year where seeds for smarter transport policy were sown. We’re optimistic that next year could bring a decent crop of positive changes.
The EU’s new climate change commissioner is promising an initiative on reducing carbon dioxide emissions from lorries, and says the existing agreement to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars could be tightened to provide greater incentives to car makers.