Improving air quality, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, reducing noise, and preventing excessive crowding of public spaces are the four urgent goals celebrated on World Car Free Day, as noted by experts consulted for this piece.
For example, Carmen Duce, spokesperson for Ecologistas en Acción and a recognized authority on sustainable mobility, points out that sixty percent of daily trips are already taken on foot. Yet she emphasizes the need to facilitate and guarantee collective public transport. Public transit must be accessible to all, while private cars occupy more than 90 percent of parked space.
Duce recalls cases where a supposed right impeded public transport, such as in Valladolid and Gijón, where a planned bus lane was canceled and a street was opened to pedestrianization instead.
The Ecologists in Action Clean Cities campaign aims to put human health first over the use of specialized vehicles and to push for fully decarbonized cities with three pillars of emission-free mobility by 2030: low-traffic zones, school streets, and Low Emission Zones.
Low Emission Zone in Barcelona
The campaign notes that ZBE creation may be affected by upcoming municipal elections and that Ecologists in Action remains committed to monitoring the 1.5 billion euro subsidy promised by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda for sustainable and digital urban transport, stressing that the subsidy should support practical, on-the-ground changes rather than distractions.
Surveys cited by Clean Cities show that the public already desires cleaner air and quieter streets. Yet Duce acknowledges that replacing every existing vehicle with electric models is not feasible due to material and energy constraints. In the meantime, the focus is on reducing the number of private vehicles while expanding accessible public transport options.
Bike path imagery accompanies the discussion, reflecting the broader push toward safer, more inviting cycling infrastructure as part of healthier urban life.
Isabell Büschell, head of the Spanish branch of the European Transport and Environment Federation, stresses the importance of ending sales of combustion engine cars before 2035 and decarbonizing freight transport to remove all polluting vehicles from European roads by 2050. She adds that the drive toward greener technologies continues to gain momentum, even during energy shortages, and highlights the need to cut transport use while expanding battery electric vehicle solutions.
Buschell also advocates applying the polluter pays principle, recommending tax incentives aligned with national budgets to support a societal shift toward cleaner transport choices.
In discussions with the European Transport and Environment Federation, a draft alternative royal decree was proposed to implement the ZBE with a uniform regulatory framework and minimum standards. The Climate Change Act alone does not specify how these rules should operate, so a clearer, coordinated approach is favored to ensure consistent enforcement across regions.
World Car Free Day originated as a European Commission initiative in 2000, following a series of protest actions in several European cities during the mid-1990s.
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Environment department contact information has historically appeared in public communications for coordination and inquiries.