Bissen, Esch-sur-Alzette, Lac de la Haute Sûre, Waldbillig, Colmar-Berg, Ettelbruck, Mertzig, Feulen, Contern will all prevent motorised traffic in a defined area on 22 September, while Schieren and Dudelange will implement a temporary car ban on 21 September, according to the Mobilitéitswoch website. The initiative is aimed, among other things, at encouraging people to walk and cycle while feeling safe.
European mobility week, which runs from 16 to 22 September, is a campaign aimed at promoting sustainable transport methods. Luxembourg has participated in the weeklong campaign since 2005. Speaking at a conference organised on Monday to announce this year’s line-up of events, mobility minister François Bausch (déi Gréng) said that the grand duchy has the highest proportion of commune engagement of all participating countries.
Bausch praised the large number of initiatives that communes have organised and stressed that while the government does its best, the willingness has to come from communes to offer transport alternatives and help the paradigm shift away from motorised transport and toward more sustainable means.
Besides car-free days, other festivities this year include a second-hand bike fair and repair café in Bettembourg on 21 September, group hikes and bike rides, distribution of goodie bags at the Schuman roundabout (by the Grand Théâtre) on 16 September and the Tour du Duerf challenge. In the latter, residents in participating communes are encouraged to get on their bikes and see how many kilometres they can cycle over 21 days. The challenge runs from 10-30 September. People with the highest distances covered stand a chance of winning prizes. Commuters travelling to work or school by bus or train during the week may also be the lucky recipients of free croissants as various rewards initiatives will be set up across communes.
During the week, the mobility ministry will launch a new interactive journey planner incorporating different forms of transport with predictive journey durations based on real-time traffic conditions. And people can put it to the test almost immediately, as for the entire week there will be no charge for public transport users--offering a taste of things to come when public transport becomes permanently free of charge from 1 March 2020.
The working week will end on 20 September with a conference featuring speakers on the future of mobility at the European Convention Center in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.