SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
URBAN MOBILITY, RECYCLING,
CIRCULAR ECONOMY.
I want to start with a historical review, at a time when discussions in our city about ecological movement were almost non-existent.
The taxis, the colleagues of the time, took the initiative and established the supply cooperative with their main objective to offer professionals quality fuel.
They wanted to deal with the excessive pollutants emitted by their vehicles, literally a large part of them <κάπνιζαν> .
The result was immediate and measurable. We no longer had vehicles to <καπνίζουν> , and doubled the life of engines.
The taxis in our city, with us as pioneers, installed the telematics system in their vehicles. We are talking about a very sophisticated system of guidance, information provision and data analysis.
It is very effective since it provides each vehicle with real-time information on the movement and position of other vehicles.
The result is measurable and with a serious ecological footprint. We have a 30% reduction in travel and a corresponding reduction in fuel consumption.
At the same time, we took full advantage of the possibilities of the telematics system and essentially helped to correct the electronic maps, thus contributing to limiting the unnecessary movements of professionals and citizens.
We know that the Greek state is also forced to harmonize with the decisions of the European Union on climate change.
We understand the need for us as professionals to gradually adapt to the new reality.
It seems clear that the state is gearing up for electric cars.
Certainly if it is done with proper planning and all parameters are taken into account, the measure will help significantly.
The positives of this option are the emission of zero pollutants and the silent movement.
However, there is also the negative side of electric mobility, such as the low autonomy, the time-consuming charging, the lack of infrastructure and in the ecological part, it is the way of producing electricity and the storage of the dangerous materials of the batteries.
Taxis with the right support from the state can contribute to sustainable urban mobility in many ways by contributing to the quest for a more humane city.
In order for us to join the planning of sustainable urban mobility as a means that will offer high-quality services, the state must treat us as a means of special transport,
Unfortunately, governments throughout time have also treated the profession of motorist in vote-seeking terms. Excessive licenses were issued ignoring the European practice of population criteria, with the natural result of filling our cities with unnecessary commercial vehicles.
The state must recognize its mistakes and choose new sustainable practices for the operation of taxis in our cities. It must give us the necessary supplies that will help us participate in a meaningful way in the formation of a new sustainable urban environment.
Support should address three main areas.
:: Substantial subsidy for the purchase of ecological vehicles with low or zero emissions so that we can always adapt to the new data.
:: Funding and encouragement to install innovative technologies in our vehicles.
:: Educational activities for professionals that will help them to become ecologically conscious so that they can actively participate in the effort for sustainable cities.
We are sure, as experienced professional transporters, that we can participate multifacetedly in the effort for sustainable urban mobility.
Through the tablets and interactive screens we plan to install, we can send messages to thousands of passengers every month about a humane city, clean, with sustainable development and mobility that will respect its people and especially those with special needs.
The use of technology gives us the possibility to develop in cooperation with the agencies and with the other transporters the combined passenger transports which will substantially contribute to the reduction of mobility.
We now have the experience and expertise to offer innovative transport packages e.g. combined movements of different passengers to the same destination with measurable results in reducing mobility.
In this direction we can develop partnerships with companies, services, diagnostic centers, and professions of high interest.
The use of technology in the part of sustainable urban mobility is decisive, the 4th industrial revolution will change the way we work, live, interact.
Artificial intelligence, and especially the Internet, will contribute decisively to the organization of sustainable cities through the rapid exchange of data and information.
In this process we can be the connecting link since we move around the city, interact with the world, use technology.
Our goal and pursuit is to be part of the new era, and we will succeed.
The state and its institutions must ensure that the transition to the new era is inclusive.
Green cities that will provide traffic flow and clean air to their citizens is a one-way street.
But new cities must accommodate all people and all professions, sustainable cities without sustainable human lives cannot exist
George Papakonstantinopoulos.
President of Express Taxi Cooperative of Patras.
