BETTER AIR QUALITY THROUGH LOW EMISSION ZONES AND GREEN CORRIDORS

On March 29 2023 the first of a series of four knowledge transfer webinars organized by the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria under the INNOAIR project was held.

INNOAIR is testing an idea not yet implemented in Europe – introducing transport services and pilot solutions in two neighborhoods of Sofia, that provide citizens with travel alternatives, reduce car traffic and improve air quality.

The first event of the series was dedicated to the introduction and design of low emission zones and green corridors, the different sources of air pollution and the effect of changes in transport patterns throughout Sofia.

During the opening of the event, Svetlana Lomeva, director of the Sofia Development Association (SDA), emphasized that the webinars aim to share the achievements of the project, but also to check the interest in these solutions and, in general, support their development in other cities as well. In this regard, she also encouraged the participants to familiarize themselves with the new European Urban Initiative (EUI) program.

Mrs. Lomeva pointed out that this is the first Bulgarian project under the program, and the process leading to the emergence of Inoair is the result of serious efforts - formulating an innovative idea that has not been implemented elsewhere, identifying the specific need of the Capital, which will be addressed with the innovation, formulating specific solutions for the relevant urban problem and last but not least, motivating the municipality to participate in the project.

She briefly presented the four main areas in which innovative solutions are introduced, namely: 1) Green public transport on demand; 2) Congestion Charge Model; 3) Geospatial low-emission urban areas and 4) Green corridors for active transport.

Mrs. Lomeva pointed to green public transport as the main priority of the project and added that "it is the first time that the local government has introduced this innovation". From research experience, right now such a service is offered to a limited extent only by private companies. She drew attention to the fact that such innovations require a change in the regulatory framework, which is an additional challenge in the project implementation.

Among the other highlights in the presentation of the SDA director, was the role of citizens and their involvement in the implementation of such initiatives, as she emphasized that the key to success is for citizens to "become authors and ambassadors of these ideas". She talked about the various interesting solutions presented and implemented through the project's public and information days, civic competitions, hackathons and partnerships. Among them: a parking platform in Sofia, bicycle counting cameras, the design of the electric buses, the SofiaCoin mobile phone application and much more.

On the topic of low-emission zones, Dimitar Petrov, director of the "Traffic Management and Analysis" Directorate in Sofia Municipality, presented the path to their creation, as well as how the INNOAIR project supported their introduction.

"INNOAIR gave us the tools and motivation to convince the public and politicians that such a zone is useful for the city and moreover - necessary," he stressed.

Mr. Petrov pointed out that when assessing the quality of atmospheric air, a number of negative factors independent of the municipal administration should also be taken into account, among which the peculiarities of the capital's geographical position for the retention of harmful emissions. He also pointed to the serious urbanization of the territory, the large concentration of residents, as well as the number of registered cars - 800,000 private cars in the city alone.

All this was also a prerequisite for the search for solutions to the city’s pollution, including the development of the idea and strategy for the introduction of the low-emission zone. A great help in this process was the so-called White Book developed under the INNOAIR project, which reflects all aspects of the issue of the territory of Sofia Municipality, including the various options, locations and time periods for the introduction of the LEZ. Statistical data, as well as mathematical modeling of the traffic data from the installed cameras, were used to develop the scenarios, and they were processed by software to specify the distribution of emissions.

"So we have a pretty accurate forecast of what we expect from the introduction of LEZs in both areas," Mr Petrov said. He added that with the document adopted by the Sofia City Council, two zones with restrictions for category 1 cars are distinguished, and in the small ring the restriction starts from December 1, 2023 and applies only to the winter months.

"The goal is to achieve maximum effect with minimal discomfort for drivers and minimal impact on people's daily lives", he pointed out and emphasized that a number of measures are planned to reduce the negative effects for those living in the LEZ area, as well as for people in disadvantaged situation. Mr. Petrov also talked about the technical solution for the introduction of low-emission zones.

On the topic of green corridors and their role in improving air quality and mobility in the city, Mr. Metodi Avramov, director of the Directorate "Strategies, Innovations and International Projects" at the Urban Mobility Centrer, spoke.

Introducing the topic of green corridors, he shared with the participants information about the distribution of trips in Sofia by type of transport - 39.70% by public transport and 39.20% by cars. Mr. Avramov emphasized that "one of the main goals of the Plan for Sustainable Urban Mobility is that in 2035, road transport will account for only 20% of all trips" and added that the INNOAIR project, the renewal of the rolling stock, investments in public transport and in the infrastructure are aimed at this goal and reducing air pollution, traffic jams and noise.

Mr. Avramov pointed out that the green corridors are a natural upgrade of the main innovative solution of the INNOAIR project, namely on demand public transportation, in combination with LEZ. "On demand transportation will provide an opportunity for those who wish to use an electric bus, with which they can move to a main transfer point of public transport," said Mr. Avramov, pointing out that at its core this type of mobility should start and finish with traveling by electric transport. "The green corridors that link all types of electric transport are the natural extension of on-demand transport and, as a very innovative measure, will be upgraded."

It demonstrates the digital map of the green corridors https://livemap.sofiatraffic.bg/ which shows the movement of public transport in real time.

The first webinar ended with the presentation of Prof. Dr. Dimitar Atanasov from the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology. He shared with the participants the various sources of pollution in Sofia and the dependencies they have established, as well as the effect of reducing traffic in the various scenarios for improving air quality.

Prof. Atanasov pointed out that the most significant of the main sources of pollution is that caused by traffic and added that the so-called "background pollution" which is caused by sources outside the territory of the municipality, including dust from the Sahara desert.

He focused on the LEZ planning process and the use of the forecast scenarios for the effect on ambient air quality when introducing the restrictions, pointing out that data is essential for informed choice and achieving maximum effect.

Prof. Atanasov pointed out that "Before arriving at an assessment of the effect of low emission zones, it is necessary to make another division, apart from the origin of the emissions, according to whether they are changeable or unchangeable". Fixed emissions include background concentrations, emissions from the household sector and emissions from industry. Emissions from traffic in the LEZ are variable, and may change when certain restrictions are introduced.

Among the conclusions of the analyzes carried out, it can be stated that even with strict restrictions and a 50% reduction of traffic in LEZ, areas with average annual concentrations of fine dust particles exceeding the norm of 40 micrograms per cubic meter may exist, the reason being background pollution.

Prof. Atanasov also indicated possible solutions, as well as the next steps, including the methodology proposed in the NIMH report, by which this can be done.

INNOAIR project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative. This is the first Bulgarian project selected for funding by UIA.