Smooth mobility is gaining weight in the city of Quarteira, with pedestrians and bicycles increasing by more than 22% in the last year.
The implementation of the Municipal Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change in the Municipality of Loulé led the Council to advance with the candidacy for the Living Laboratories for Decarbonization programme, launched and co-financed by the Environmental Fund, an action that resulted in the creation of the Quarteira Lab project.
Among the implemented solutions was the promotion and monitoring of smooth mobility, through the creation of a cycle path in each of the traffic directions and the installation of a people and bicycle counting system, which can be consulted in real time.
Between January and December last year, 942 people and 188 bicycles passed by the intersection of Avenida Carlos Mota Pinto and Rua Vasco da Gama, in the territory of this laboratory for decarbonisation, values greater than the 132 and 756, respectively , recorded in 754.
This 24,9% increase in pedestrians and 22,2% in terms of cycling mobility «reflects well the synergies generated by the project financed by the Environmental Fund with the aim of reducing CO 2 emissions» , says the autarchy.
With the sharp increase in population in Quarteira during the summer, the highest numbers were recorded during the month of August: there were 138 people and 543 bicycles passing through here during this period.
In daily average terms, 2 people and 581 bicycles traveled through this area.
Although there is no record of the distance traveled, the municipality says that if each of these cyclists had covered all 900 meters of the cycle path, the emission of 12,8 tons of CO 2 would have been avoided if the same route had been taken. by automobile.
With an intervention area that includes Avenidas Carlos Mota Pinto and Francisco Sá Carneiro (between the Rotunda do Polvo and the Rotunda do Terminal Rodoviário), Quarteira Lab constitutes a territory that intends to respond to the challenges of urban sustainability in the municipality of Loulé, which is currently in the intervention phase.
According to the Câmara de Loulé, since the cycle path in the city of Quarteira was created, GNR data point to a reduction in the number of accidents in the area.
Between February and December 2018, a period when there was still no cycle path, 51 road accidents were recorded, resulting in 2 serious injuries and 14 minor injuries, while in the same period of 2019, already with a cycle path, of the 38 accidents that happened here , resulted in one seriously injured and two lightly injured. The number of accidents decreased by 26%, with a consequent sharp decrease in pedestrian accidents (-86%).
Last year, 33 road accidents were registered, resulting in 2 serious injuries and 13 minor injuries.
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