City mayors, together with public health and transport NGOs have today written to European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans calling for the EU COVID19 Recovery Package to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and ensure urban residents can continue to enjoy the improved air quality as a result of lower use of fossil-powered vehicles as a result of the lockdown measures which have been imposed to tackle the pandemic.
The are calling for Green public procurement and the introduction of zero-emission buses, refuse collection trucks, municipal vans, and for the required infrastructure to be installed; for investment to modernising public transport by, for example, making high-speed internet available onboard, improving the efficiency of multimodal ticketing, and developing real-time passenger information systems; and to support the development of cycling and walking, so that cities can construct permanent safe cycling infrastructure and widen footpaths as soon as possible.
Read the letter in full here
