Abstract
Cities have intensified the adoption of Low Emission Zones (LEZs) to improve urban livability. Despite the high social controversy caused by LEZs in many cities, the scientific literature has paid little attention to study their public acceptability. This paper conducts a modelling approach exploring the impact of four groups of variables on the public acceptability of LEZs: (i) socio-economic and demographic characteristics; (ii) personal attitudes; (iii) travel-related variables; and (iv) perceptions and mobility habits linked to LEZs. The city of Madrid, Spain, is a case study of great interest because a LEZ called “Madrid Central” has been recently implemented. A total of 799 individual questionnaires were used to calibrate an ordered logit model. Results indicate that socio-economic and demographic variables are weakly related to the level of public acceptability towards the LEZ. On the contrary, the political ideology of individuals, their environmental awareness, their primary transport mode, the use of shared mobility systems, and the frequency of access to “Madrid Central” have a higher explanatory power. The results may be useful for policy-makers to understand the factors that increase the public acceptability of LEZs.
Highlights
Despite the fact that sustainable mobility has been prioritized in the planning agendas of many cities (Banister 2008; Schwanen et al, 2011) [1,2], the academic interest to understand the link between air quality and transport seems stronger than ever
If no attention is paid to acceptability issues, social controversy related to Low Emission Zones (LEZs) could increase, thereby limiting their effectiveness and positive impacts on cities. To respond to those important issues, this paper aims to identify key variables explaining the public acceptability of LEZs
Previous research on LEZs has been mostly focused on the evaluation of air pollutant concentration in cities worldwide
Summary
Despite the fact that sustainable mobility has been prioritized in the planning agendas of many cities (Banister 2008; Schwanen et al, 2011) [1,2], the academic interest to understand the link between air quality and transport seems stronger than ever. That reflects a growing concern on the challenge that transport air pollution poses to society, and reveals the conflict of maximizing the benefits of mobility while reducing its environmental impacts (Polichetti, 2017; Ramos et al, 2017) [3,4] To address this particular issue, many cities (e.g., Sao Paulo, Beijing, México City, Paris, London, and Berlin) have opted for implementing Low Emission Zones (LEZs), to constrain the use of combustion-based cars in favor of electric vehicles, collective and active modes (Zainol et al, 2014; Szarata et al, 2017) [5,6]. Specific emissions standards for road pollutants have been established at the European context (e.g., PM and NOX), triggering urban transit restrictions implemented by local authorities according to the type of vehicle (from Euro I to Euro VI) Those car traffic restrictions seem suitable tools to achieve livable, walkable, and healthy cities, but their effectiveness and feasibility is linked to high social controversy generated when they are implemented (Soria-Lara et al, 2019) [7]
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