EU supports the shift to low-emission urban mobility with the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2016

Today the European Commission is launching the fifteenth annual EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK (16-22 September), with events in over 2,000 European cities. This includes the organisation of car-free days in a number of European towns. Urban transport accounts for 23% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK encourages individual changes in mobility habits to reduce emissions in cities. These actions form part of the  strategy for low-emission mobility adopted by the Commission on 20 July. The implementation of this strategy will be a priority in 2017 as announced by President Jean-Claude Juncker in his State of the Union address 2016. EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: “2,063 local authorities from 48 countries registered their participation. I am very happy to see Washington D.C., Buenos Aires, Almati, Kyoto and 48 cities from Russia. This week is about getting individuals and local authorities – big and small – on board. We are moving towards smart mobility, by integrating technology into transport. Smart mobility can reduce traffic jams in European cities and help cut the 100 billion euro congestion price-tag, making our cities more liveable!“.