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How Mobility Services are Helping European Cities Reach CO2 Reduction and Congestion Goal

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<p>Governments and individuals are becoming more cognizant of their carbon footprint and are looking for ways to reduce their impact. However, with places like Luxembourg having <b>662 passenger vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants</b>, European cities are plagued with traffic congestion. Additionally, when you factor in the sheer number of vehicles on the roads, it not surprising that the <b>European Commission</b> claims, “Urban mobility accounts for 40 % of all CO2 emissions of road transport and up to 70 % of other pollutants from transport.”</p>

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<p>Considering the need to reduce traffic and CO2 in European cities, studies have been conducted to determine the best course of action. Fortunately, both the government and the individual can take steps that will lead to less congested roadways and a healthier planet. As a shared mobility service for family carpooling, GoKid is doing its part to make it easy for individuals in cities and around the world to reduce their carbon footprints. </p> <p><b>New Emission Standards are Just the Beginning</b></p> <p>In November 2017, the European Commission outlined new legislation regarding CO2 emissions that demonstrate its commitment to the Paris Agreement. The goal is for vehicles for cars and vans emissions to be <b>15% lower in 2025 than in 2021</b>. This will help introduce the goal of the new legislation for new vehicles to have <b>average emissions of 30% lower in 2030 than in 2021</b>. Ultimately, this legislation aims to pave the way to clean vehicles (or vehicles with zero-emission or no-emission).</p> <p>With <b>35 million grossly polluting Euro 5 and 6 diesel cars on EU's roads</b>, these new emission standards are necessary. In addition to the new emission standards proposed by the European Commission, there are several other UK-based traffic initiatives aimed at reducing CO2 and easing congestion.</p> <p><b>Transportation Initiatives are Making Cities Smart</b></p> <p>While implementing new emissions testing for vehicles is an excellent goal, there are many other ways European cities are encouraging citizens to relieve traffic congestion and reduce CO2 emissions. </p> <p>● <b>Free Public Transport - </b>Luxembourg is offering citizens free public transportation country-wide beginning March 2020. This includes all public transportation - buses, rails, and trams. With high rates of vehicle ownership and the number of work commuters, <b>Financial</b> <b>Times</b> reports, Luxembourg's “congestion times are among the highest in Europe, with each driver spending on average 30 hours stuck in jams every year.” The free public transport initiative is a clear means to lessen road congestion. Cities can also encourage the use of free friend-based carpooling apps like GoKid to help families coordinate rides for their younger members.<b></b></p> <p>● <b>Cycle Routes and incentives -</b> Encouraging more cycling is a big part of reducing CO2 emissions. The Netherlands is actually using monetary incentives to get more people to cycle to work. Cyclists can claim €0.19 (around $0.22) from their employer for every kilometer they pedal to the office. Other cities are planning additional cycle routes making it easier to get places by bike. For instance Luxembourg has planned <b>some 300km of cycle routes</b>. Throughout Europe, governments are investing in cycle routes as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, the <b>European cycle route network</b>, a project of the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), aims to be a sustainable Trans-European Transport Network. <b></b></p> <p>● <b>Banning Cars from City Centers </b>- According to <b>Business Insider</b>, “Urban planners and policymakers around the world have started to brainstorm ways that cities can create more space for pedestrians and lower CO2 emissions from diesel.” Cities, such as Madrid, are banning cars from city centers or implementing car bans that only allow resident vehicles, zero-emissions delivery vehicles, taxis, or public transit.<b></b></p> <p>● <b>Paid Parking - </b>Other cities plagued with traffic congestion are looking to fees as a way to discourage individuals car owners from driving. For example, Moscow has gone to an app-based paid parking system where all drivers must pay to park their vehicles in the city center. <b>Bloomberg</b> reports, “A day's worth of curbside parking could cost about $30, making it the largest daily expense for many Russian drivers.”<b></b></p> <p>● <b>Carpooling Lanes - </b>Another effort to lessen the number of vehicles on roadways is adding carpool/car-sharing lanes, which are also known as 2+ lanes or High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. Currently, <b>Leeds has 3 car-sharing lanes, Bristol 2, Birmingham 1, and Bradford also has one</b>. <b>BlaBlaCar</b> claims that the newly added carpooling lanes have had several positive benefits such as an increase in bus riders, an increase in carpooling, and reduced rush hour driving times. <b></b></p> <p><b>Encouraging Europeans to Car Share </b></p> <p>Car sharing is becoming increasingly popular all across Europe with the shared mobility industry expected to grow from <b>€5.1 billion to more than €100 billion by 2025</b>. A study by Transport Environment found that car sharing programs greatly reduce car use. Here are several of the findings relating to reduced traffic congestion and emissions from <b>Transport Environment</b>:</p> <p>● With car sharing, 5 - 15 cars are replaced for each shared car added to the fleet.</p> <p>● Taking London as an example: 1 in 5 Londoners are less likely to buy a car in the future because of alternatives like Uber.</p> <p>● Each Car2go (car-sharing program) vehicle removes between 7 to 11 vehicles from city roads and an average of 11% reduction in vehicle-kilometres (6% - 16%) and 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (4% to 18%).</p> <p>● Autolib' (the fully electric open-access car-sharing program in Paris) not only hopes to cut the driver's transportation costs by 90% but has estimated that by 2023 its 4000 Autolib' fleet would replace more than 36,000 privately owned cars.</p> <p><b>Ride Sharing is Another Healthy Alternative</b></p> <p>While car sharing is a way to improve traffic congestion and reduce emissions across Europe, we can do even more. By ride sharing, we reduce our carbon footprint as it is then divided by the number of people sharing. For example, <b>Transport Environment</b> found “The average car occupancy rate for BlaBlaCar (a long-distance ride-sharing service) is 2.8 person per car compared to Europe's average of 1.7 person per car, and the company has estimated the environmental impact to have saved at least 1 million tons of CO2.” </p> <p>We also know that car sharing doesn't always work for families as they need to keep their own vehicle, so <i>ride </i>sharing is a great alternative to encourage optimal car usage. Families are saving many miles of driving and tons of CO2 emissions by carpooling their kids with other families. On GoKid alone, over 2,702 tons of CO2 have been reduced and 3+ million miles of driving have been saved through carpooling. Imagine the difference we could make if we choose to ride share every day. </p> <p><b>GoKid is a Mobility App for Active Families Helping Cities Reduce CO2</b></p> <p>Since 30% of morning traffic is caused by parents driving their kids to school, there is a clear connection between morning rush hour congestion and the drive to school. Rather than adding to the already congested and polluted roads, parents can choose community-based options like <b>GoKid</b>, a mobility app for busy families. GoKid works by helping parents find other trusted families to carpool with to and from school, sports, and other kids' activities. The app shows parents better routes, sends notifications for who is on driving duty and announces when kids need to be ready to go. GoKid is already making strides by helping parents in Europe find rides for their children and contributing to European efforts for safer, more sustainable transportation.</p>

<p><i>GoKid is the complete carpool solution for schools, teams and families. An easy-to-use application enable families to set up and manage carpools with people they know and trust. GoKid is an alumnus of Techstars Mobility and winner of the US Energy 2018 program. The company is backed by Jaguar Land Rover's InMotion Ventures, Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, Village Capital, and Techstars. Founded in 2015, GoKid is headquartered in New York City. Over 250,000 carpool trips have been created on GoKid, saving parents over 3 million miles of driving. To learn more about how we work with schools, teams and corporations, visit</i><i> www.gokid.mobi</i><i>.</i><i></i></p>



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How Mobility Services are Helping European Cities Reach CO2 Reduction and Congestion Goal
Modified on Wednesday 24th April 2019
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