Proaktiva

Use a bike instead of a car

The civil society association Proaktiva from Skopje, in cooperation with the Association of Town Planners from Serbia, started the realization of the project: “Integral approach for solving the traffic problems of sustainable aspect”. The project is supported by the Regional Environmental Centre (REC) though a fund provided by the Office for European Assistance of the European Commission. In Macedonia, this project is realized in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, the City of Skopje and the Public Transport Enterprise – Skopje. The goal of the activities is having an impact in overcoming the problems caused by the increased traffic intensity in Skopje and Belgrade. The project started with assessing the degree of citizens’ informing on the potential consequences from the increased quantity of exhaust gases from the cars, as well as their desire to use more sustainable ways of transport. In the questionnaires, the citizens were asked about their habits to use a bus instead of a car and the advantages of protecting the environment in so doing. In this part of the project, the first campaign called: Strengthening the public awareness on the consequences of the cars’ exhaust gases” was implemented. The citizens were informed on the negative consequences caused by the car gases and the advantages of using the public (mass) transport of passengers.

“According to the results from the recent analysis, 71% of the citizens said that they are not familiar with the JSP timetable for buses. On the other hand, 44% of the surveyed, said that in order to use the public transport more often, they need to know the times arrival and departure of the buses at the local stops. “Therefore, within the second campaign “Use the public transport”, we prepared 30,000 pocket time-tables of the JSP buses which give the exact time of departure and arrival of the buses from the terminal stops. The goal of this activity is to make citizens use their cars more rarely and more rationally and use the public transport instead”, says Aleksandra Dimova, project-leader.

We are planning to prepare a map that will present the cycling paths (lines) in the city. Thus, the citizens will be informed on where they can ride their bikes safely. On the other hand, the more frequent use of the bikes will influence on the reduction of the harmful gases emission. Recently, Skopje received a cycling path along the quay, which is isolated from the everyday traffic jam and offers great safety for the bikers, as well as a ride in ecological conditions, far from the harmful gases. There is also a tendency in Skopje, to include cycling paths in the projects for building important streets or bridges. There is more and more space for the lovers of alternative means of transport. All they have to do is learn where and how the existing paths are connected. “Taking into consideration the fact that part of the citizens do not want to give up their cars, we called our third campaign “Drive your colleagues, drive your neighbors”. This way, we want to promote the system “Share your car”, which has been functioning for some time in the countries with a high level of awareness, emphasized Dimova. Apart from these three campaigns, Proaktiva is organizing a lecture on “Sustainable approach in the town planning – better place for living”.

 

S.N.