“Traveling by car means wasted time and money, more stress, traffic jams and exhaust fumes” – it is the slogan which will be placed on buses and trams in Warsaw, promoting European Mobility Week (EMW).
As part of Car Free Day, on 22 September, you will not need to validate your ticket on a bus, tube, tram, Fast City Train (SKM), in the trains of Mazowieckie Railways (KM) and Warsaw Commuter Railway (WKD), in the area included in the offer “Join ticket for ZTM-KM-WKD”. That day you can leave your car in the P+R car parks free of charge.
Since the end of August, 20 modern Solbus buses and 10 two-wagon trams, marked with slogans promoting the EU initiative, have been running the streets of Warsaw.
It is the 13th edition of EMW. It was Margaret Wallström, the EU Environment Commissioner, who established Car Free Day in 2000. Since then EMW became a periodic event. Its goal is to promote the sustainable transport (public urban transport, system of P+R car parks, bicycles) and to pay attention to negative consequences of excessive traffic in cities.
Examples of these consequences are numerous. A car, in which 1.3 of a person drives at average, emits about 140 g/km of carbon dioxide per person. Just to illustrate, a bus, which carries 80 persons at average, emits as little as 11 g/km per person. Trams and tubes do not emit carbon dioxide at all.
At the same time one bus carrying 80 persons takes up about 27 square meters of a road, while you need as many as 62 cars, carrying 1.3 of a person at average, to drive the same number of 80 persons. Averaging the car size, those 62 cars take up more than 400 square meters of a road, which leads to creating traffic jams.
Let’s add that public transport vehicles running on railway tracks and bus lanes guarantee that passengers avoid traffic jams.
During EMW Public Transport Days will take place in Warsaw, among other events. The accompanying events will be a chance to learn more about other advantages of using public urban transport. More details will soon be available on ztm.waw.pl.
Published 22 August 2014
Last modified 3 June 2019
