This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at La carretera, en el punto de mira del Gobierno

The disappointment to the stupefaction

The road, in the crosshairs of the Government

Source: AEC - Spanish Road Association 14/03/2011

on March 14, 2011

In the light of the latest measures announced by the Government in the field of energy efficiency, that impact directly on the road and road transport, both goods and passengers, the Spanish Road Association (AEC) considers it necessary to carry out the following considerations. In the first instance, ACS makes a call to reflection and to the detailed study of the measures from public administration you wish to implement in the field of road and, in this sense, puts at the disposal of the authorities all its scientific and technical backgroundaccumulated during more than six decades of research in this field.

The Spanish Road Association recalls that the roads are essential for the economic and social well-being. And they have proved in other critical moments of our recent history as crucial infrastructures to overcome economic difficulties of gravity.

The AEC also recalls that, despite the efforts of the Government to change this trend, road is still transporting 90% of travellers and 85% of the goods, ratios which respond to mobility decisions taken freely by the users.

Despite all this, at the present time, the roads have become central to measures that not only do not benefit to this mode of transport as such, damaging, at the time, the road to economic recovery, but that could put at risk the improvements achieved in the field of road safety during the last two decades.

First was the construction of new works by highways (with reprogramming of 112 contracts and the termination of other 27), later the preservation of the existing road infrastructure (particularly of their firm, whose maintenance has not provided a single euro in 2010), and now the turn has come to the equipment, modifying the generic limits of circulation in a contradictory manner or considering the reduction of the lighting of the tracks.

On 25 February the Council of Ministers adopted the Royal Decree laying down the General maximum speed limit on freeways and highways, for cars and motorcycles, at 110 km/h.

Contradictions

Following in Córdoba of the 2nd meeting of cities for road safety on 17 and 18 February, the General Directorate of traffic announced his intention to generalize the 30 zones in the cities, "to adjust the speed to the requirements of safety of pedestrians and cyclists".

A week later, on 25 February, the Council of Ministers approved a Royal Decree to amend the General Regulation of movement, establishing the generic maximum speed limit on freeways and highways, for cars and motorcycles, at 110 km/h. The goal: reduce fuel consumption to the international situation and the evolution to the rise in the price of oil.

Both measures, which might be complementary, are, however, contradictory from the point of view of energy efficiency. Indeed, various investigations reveal that the average consumption of a vehicle has a direct relationship with the regime of conduction, i.e. with the revolutions that reaches the engine during the journey.

Data extracted from the Setismo project * (study of the Transport Sector in Spain.) (Development and implementation of models of analysis of the conditions for a sustainable increase of mobility), show that reducing the speed of 50 to 30 km/h increases fuel consumption by 40% (from 58 to 80 g/km)as to move from 120 to 110 km/h is a drop in the consumption of 8 per cent (from 63 to 58 g/km).

Another interesting calculation, which would provide an overview of the effectiveness of the measure to enter into force in the network of Spanish high-capacity, is to estimate the economic cost that will result from the increase in the time spent on the displacement as a result of the reduction of the generic speed.

The political situation in some countries of the Arab world have exacerbated a latent need: reduce fuel consumption and our dependence on fossil fuels. Photo: Elvis Santana.

Road safety, at risk

This week, the Executive announced its intention to adopt a new Plan of energy saving that would affect the lighting of the tracks. The Government raises to reduce energy costs by reducing the power consumption of luminaires installed in the road network of State-owned 50%.

Given the implications that a measure like this could have on the safety of traffic, from the Spanish Road Association we welcome the clarifications made in yesterday by the Minister of public works, José Blanco, in both as soon as the Government's intention is not eliminate any point of light on the roads but replace the current luminaires by others of low power consumption.

Research conducted by the Spanish Road Association in the early 1990s revealed that the probability of an accident in terms of night is multiplied by 2.43 on the day, even taking into account that, overnight, decreases considerably the volume of traffic and recorded less sinister.

Thus, in Spain, with a night traffic of 24.3%, the number of deaths caused by accidents during the night amounted to 43%. After the sunset, the risk of dying in a car accident increases 3.10 times in relation to the day.

Since the 1970s, is accepted widely in the technical field that the lighting of roads reduces accidents with victims by 20% and 50% deaths by casualty movement, by encrypting the annual savings resulting from the installation of lighting systems on the tracks at about 390 million euros. It would on the basis of this figure, illuminate the entire network of the State represent a cost of € 1,600 million, investment which would be amortized over eight years.

Lighting on highways and main roads are also part of the Government energy savings Plan. Photo: Alvaro Ibáñez.

And what will be the next thing?

Perhaps shut down tunnels smoke extraction systems or eliminate telematics systems of information in ruta… "The Spanish Road Association has gone from disappointment to the astonishment", they say, at a time when road infrastructure seem to have become responsible for the critical economic situation facing Spain.

Current state transport policy - which applies exclusively to the road mode, does perhaps the other modes do not consume energy?-puts at risk the efforts made by the whole of Spanish society in the past two decades to provide a modern network of road infrastructureefficient, effective, respectful with the environment and, above all, safe.

* The Setismo project was developed in 2002 by the technical school of engineers industrial of Madrid, the school Superior technique of civil engineering, canals and ports of Madrid and the University Institute of research of the automobile of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, with the collaboration, among other institutions, the Spanish Road Association (AEC).