Consell de Formentera president Alejandra Ferrer and mobility councillor Rafael González seized the opportunity of Sustainable Mobility Week to discuss an official progress report on the first phase—from the start of July to the end of August—of a system to regulate the number of vehicles brought onto the island.
President Ferrer retraced the path to Formentera's becoming an island where mobility is increasingly sustainable. Concerning this summer's rollout, Ferrer declared, “we met two of our main goals: no surprises or hitches, and a total vehicle count in tune with last summer's figure, breaking with our previous upward trend”.
The president stressed that the participation of islanders and businesses had been key to making the experience a success. “Today we're that much closer to the sustainable island every one of us aspires to”, she said. “During this period of reflection, we'll be meeting with stakeholders in our island's social and business spheres”, she added, explaining that the “Consell d'Entitats will prepare and vote on guidelines to be followed next season”.
Formentera.eco
For his part, Councillor González pointed out that an average of 20,595 vehicles were on the road in July and August. “We saw our lowest figure—17,834 vehicles with authorisation to be on the road—on the first of July”, González said. The high came 10 August, when the total was 21,929. Stacking up this year's maximum estimated total against the same figure in summer 2018, there was a two per-cent drop.
The councillor also highlighted €59,512 in total returns from a levy on incoming vehicles, pointing out that tourists paid a per-diem rate of €1 to drive cars and €0.50 to drive scooters. Nineteen tickets for violations of the new rules were issued as well; they are currently being processed.
Keeping tabs on vehicle traffic
Sharing data from tallies conducted in the first half of August, González held out an 8% drop in the average number of cars on local highways. Data from Balearic Port Authority (APB) indicate the amount of incoming and outgoing vehicle traffic rose by 1.9% in July and August, which the councillor accounted for by pointing out that “in summer 2018 we saw year-on-year growth of 13%, so we're looking at a slowdown in the acceleration of vehicles entering and exiting Formentera via the port”.
Public transport
In the peak period of August, tallies of riders getting on and off public transport reflected a 7.6% uptick compared to 2018. Averaging for July and August, the upswing was 1.6%.
Cycling
More good news came from manual tallies of cyclists on the network of nature trails, or rutes verdes, which revealed a 28% increase in bicycle use compared to 2017 data (records weren't kept in 2018). “The goal is to implement the Sustainable Mobility Plan, which lawmakers passed in 2018, and to make Formentera ever more sustainable”, said González. “There's still more work to be done.”
19 September 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera
The Department of Culture of the Consell de Formentera unveiled today the second round this year of the musical and performing arts programme “L'Illa a Escena”. Culture and education councillor Susana Labrador said that the nine projects scheduled to stop in at the Sala de Cultura “have something for both children and adults, and is designed to spice up the local cultural scene”. “We're bringing acts from across the spectrum of artistic expression and styles”, said the councillor, “so islanders can enjoy a cultural programme that's eclectic and plural”.
The Department of Tourism of the Consell de Formentera reports that the coming days will see the island's promotors hitting two travel expos in Switzerland and Netherlands, and a birdwatching festival in the Delta de l'Ebre.
The Department of Environment of the Consell de Formentera reports that the local celebration of World Cleanup Day promoted by Plastic-Free Formentera and Qué Celeste with support from the Consell happens this Saturday, 21 September.
The environmental department of the Consell de Formentera has rolled out a programme offering free wood pallets at the island's rubbish drop-off spot, the Deixalleria. Formentera residents can take advantage of the offer by signing up at the Deixalleria directly.