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Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

greeneuropeanjournal.eu

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Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#931

Post by Qwertious »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #578
Fricken wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My daily bicycle commute takes me right through the heart of my city's homeless district, and like with many cities things have gotten a lot worse since COVID. Cars are far and away the biggest threat to my safety, and the source of all the harrassment I receive while out in public. I mean, every now and then some guttersnipe blurts out incoherencies at me, but that's not something to be afraid of. I regard driving,…

[flagged]

>and they refuse to simply USE THE SIDEWALK

How do you get to a sidewalk on a different block without going on the road?

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#932

Post by conceptme »

potac wrote: post #899
dmurray wrote: post #862

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to Pontevedra and actually I thought it was something of a public transport hub! I was there because I was changing buses. Looking at Google Maps, there's a bus (XG628007) every 20 minutes from Marin to Pontevedra that takes 18 minutes for 7 km, along with at least two other bus routes which are less frequent and less direct. How much more public transport could you ask for? There are subway stops in Manhat…

It's true there is a bus to Marin every 20min but it uses a _single_ fixed route. People that live far away (>1km) from this path spend less time driving to Pontevedra than walking to the nearest bus stop. It is not just increasing frequency, it is a matter of providing alternative routes to serve an important part of the population.

You could also bicycle to the stop? It's not really practicle to cover any rural location 1km apart with a bus stop.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#933

Post by dspillett »

bee_rider wrote: post #684
dspillett wrote: post #612

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's often perceived as an architecture issue ("Europe has historical buildings […]") but very few notice that the main difference is […] the […] walkability. I'd say both. We do have the history on show both because we have more of it, and sometimes the stuff from eras when the US as we think of it¹ existed tends to be better preserved despite the effects of WWI and WWII. But we also have it easy to get to, often…

The “Founding Fathers” generally refers to the politicians who were around during the revolutionary war (starting 1775). What you are describing in your [1] seems to be more a reference to the Pilgrims and Puritians (the early North American colonists who showed up around 1620). The Founding Fathers also did a lot of controlling of some people’s lives (in that they enslaved a lot of people), but they didn’t have to g…

Yeah, my I had a little brain-o there and was meaning the Pilgrim Fathers not the Founding Fathers.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#934

Post by ta20240528 »

m-schuetz wrote: post #867
dmurray wrote: post #862

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to Pontevedra and actually I thought it was something of a public transport hub! I was there because I was changing buses. Looking at Google Maps, there's a bus (XG628007) every 20 minutes from Marin to Pontevedra that takes 18 minutes for 7 km, along with at least two other bus routes which are less frequent and less direct. How much more public transport could you ask for? There are subway stops in Manhat…

Public transport just serves as an excuse to argue against car-free policies. Public transport can never be good enough to cover any rural alley cost-effectively. It also does not need to, cities don't need to justify makong themselves more livable to their citizens, at the cost of commuters who only see the city as a parking lot and roads.

I've always argued - given the tech we have - that one's municipal rates and taxes should include a public transport rebate.

Say the first €x /month,year is free, thereafter you pay as normal.

Use it or lose it.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#937

Post by gcanyon »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #877
potac wrote: post #798

I'm from Pontevedra. It has been the major's long-term project (~ 20 years) to make the city for the pedestrians: and he's done it. This works mainly because of two things: 1) the city is small and it takes aprox 30 min to walk it entirely from end to end, and 2) it is mostly flat. Only a smooth hill from "orillamar" to "alameda/peregrina". Unfortunately, the major obsessed with getting rid of cars (which I am highly…

> Unfortunately, the major obsessed with getting rid of cars (which I am highly grateful) but forgot to provide reliable public transport to close-by villages (max 5km,i.e., Poio/Marin/Salcedo). He can't! Mayors in Spain do not have the authority to establish public transportation outside their municipality, as is the case of the villages you mention. That would fall under the authority of the Xunta de Galicia, which…

I'm looking for a place to move to in 5-10 years, and A Coruña is one of the places I've been researching! A friend from Spain says it's too cloudy/rainy. What do you think about the weather and any points in general about your city?

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#938

Post by gcanyon »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #877
potac wrote: post #798

I'm from Pontevedra. It has been the major's long-term project (~ 20 years) to make the city for the pedestrians: and he's done it. This works mainly because of two things: 1) the city is small and it takes aprox 30 min to walk it entirely from end to end, and 2) it is mostly flat. Only a smooth hill from "orillamar" to "alameda/peregrina". Unfortunately, the major obsessed with getting rid of cars (which I am highly…

> Unfortunately, the major obsessed with getting rid of cars (which I am highly grateful) but forgot to provide reliable public transport to close-by villages (max 5km,i.e., Poio/Marin/Salcedo). He can't! Mayors in Spain do not have the authority to establish public transportation outside their municipality, as is the case of the villages you mention. That would fall under the authority of the Xunta de Galicia, which…

What would it take to change the monopoly of the Xunta de Galicia? Or reform them?

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#939

Post by gcanyon »

madaxe_again wrote: post #927
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #877

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unfortunately, the major obsessed with getting rid of cars (which I am highly grateful) but forgot to provide reliable public transport to close-by villages (max 5km,i.e., Poio/Marin/Salcedo). He can't! Mayors in Spain do not have the authority to establish public transportation outside their municipality, as is the case of the villages you mention. That would fall under the authority of the Xunta de Galicia, which…

Man, I was near A Coruña a few weeks back and was marvelling at how great it was that I could stick my friends on a bus in a small town and they’d get to Santiago. You have public transit. Where I live in Portugal, there’s nothing - no buses at all, no taxis, zero public transit of any kind. You drive, you walk, or you ride your donkey. There are bus stops, from when there used to be buses, but there have been none i…

I'm curious where you are in Portugal. I visited for a few months back in 2017, and I didn't get a sense of the transit, but there were lots of nice new roads to drive on (which I get is not the right answer here).

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#940

Post by RataNova »

powvans wrote: post #10

This is really amazing to see trending on HN. I spent a couple days in Pontevedra this summer while walking the Camino de Santiago. It was absolutely delightful and what I experienced aligns with the article. The old town was filled with wide streets almost exclusively for walking, cafes and restaurants that sprawled into plazas, and people young and old enjoying the car free public space. It was one of the first sto…

There's such a clear appetite for more human-centered design
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