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CIVITAS VANGUARD
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| Porto |
Porto website
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| Porto, a World Heritage site since 1996, is one of Europe's oldest cities and is located in a setting of rare natural beauty. In Porto you will find a city steeped in tradition, with quality access, history, friendly people, culture, architecture, a mild climate and of course Port wine. |
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About the city
Porto is remarkable for its unique character. As a city that has always depended on itself to generate wealth, it developed a sense of independence that was notorious in many important periods of the county's history. It was here that liberal ideas flourished in the 19th century, where the seeds of the republic, as well as the idea to restore the monarchy, were sown.
Today Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and the centre of the largest most densely populated urban areas in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It is a city with a strong concentration of students and a growing reputation as a city of knowledge. Porto’s industrial sector includes predominantly small and medium-scale units in the areas of textiles, footwear, cork, furniture and metal processing. The city has world heritage status, both in the historical city and in the Port Wine region. It is also culturally vibrant, with facilities combining high quality standards and modern architecture. Porto is known worldwide as the “city of bridges”, due to its six outstanding structures that connect the banks separated by the Douro River.
Basic City Structure
Porto is located in the north of Portugal and it is the heart of the country’s second biggest metropolitan area - Oporto Metropolitan Area. Its domains (41.6 km2) are limited by the Douro River to the South, by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and by the neighbouring cities of Matosinhos and Maia to the North and Gondomar to the East.
Oporto is the most populated metropolitan area of the North-eastern Iberian Peninsula, where a “Euro region” that includes Northern Portugal and the Spanish region of Galicia is formed, covering more than 6 million inhabitants.The city is the hub of a highly industrialised region and an important centre for both "traditional" (textiles, footwear, cork and furniture) and "non-traditional" (car components and electronics) sectors.
The University of Oporto is one of the largest and most prestigious academic institutions in the country. Porto is also home to the Porto Polytechnic Institute and several private universities Porto has about 60,000 University-level students.
Urban Transport Structure
According to the latest National Mobility Survey (2000), the city of Porto is responsible for generating and attracting an average total of 1,711,910 daily trips, i.e. about 56% of the total daily traffic within the metropolitan area. The modal distribution of these trips show a prevalence of private transport (43%) over public transport (25%) and walking (32%), although the numbers for public transport usage are slightly higher than in the metropolitan area average.
The transport policy of Porto has recently been changing following some major public road/highway schemes investments made in the past decade. The policy is increasingly becoming more focused on the provision of quality public transport, with the new metro system being highlighted. The existing urban transport structure may be summarised as follows:
Metro system: The Oporto Metropolitan system has a length of 60 km, 5 lines and 70 stations and represented an increasing total of 38.6M validations in the year 2006. It operates as an underground system in the city centre and as a (surface) light rail in the rest of the city and suburbs. It connects the airport, the main railway stations and several bus interfaces and car parks. There are plans for further expansion (in Gondomar, V.N.Gaia and Porto).
Bus system: There are currently 20 bus operators in the city of Porto, but the public operator (STCP) has the exclusive rights for the internal urban operations with a current offer of 65 lines, representing 496 Km of network and 190M validations in 2006. The network was recently re-adapted to better fit with the changes enhanced by the beginning of the metro system operation. STCP is also in charge of 3 historical local tram lines, although their added value is clearly more orientated to the tourist segment. The remaining bus supply in Porto is provided by private bus operators at an inter-urban, regional and national level, with stations dispersed all over the city domain.
Trains: The national train operator, CP - Comboios de Portugal, is currently in charge of the urban train network in the city. The system has 4 lines and connects Porto’s two main train stations to neighbouring cities (Espinho, Trofa) and medium size settlements (Braga, Guimarães and Aveiro). At a national level, the intercity rail line to Lisbon has been upgraded and can currently perform this trip in about two and a half hours. This connection integrates the new national governmental high speed train program along with a future connection to Vigo (Galicia, Spain).
Road and private transport: Oporto is now served by a dense network of motorways that link the city to the other parts of the country, as well as to neighbouring Spanish regions. The recent enlargements of the network were held in the Northern parts benefiting access to the airport and port infrastructure in an area with severe traffic congestion problems. In the inner city level, about 675 km of municipal roads are a combination of the old and narrow network, concentrated in the historical parts of the city, and the newer patterns of the more recent urban developments. In terms of demand management, the city has a centralized operational Traffic Management System (SIGA) based on traffic light timing coordination according to the detected demand.
Walking and cycling: The data related to walking and cycling is limited. Walking was presented as the biggest mode of transport. In terms of cycling, the existing infrastructure is almost inexistent and mainly leisure-related.
Ticketing and Fares: At an operational level, the ANDANTE system must be mentioned. This is the common contactless card used by several operators (CP, Metro, STCP and some private operators), in operation since 2004, and seen as a major breakthrough in the transport field in the country.
Organisation: The Câmara Municipal do Porto (City’s Municipality) is the main organisation responsible for transport planning and coordination, although other organisations (National Transport Board (IMTT), Minister of Transport, Metropolitan Council (JMP), Regional Commission (CCDR-N)) also have responsibilities in this area.
Major changes are expected in the field of transport organisation with this year’s creation of the Oporto Metropolitan Transportation Authority (AMTP).
Air and Sea Transport:
The Oporto Airport (Francisco Sá Carneiro) had its capacity enlarged to a total o 6M passengers/year. The Port of Leixões had a movement of 14 million tons of merchandise in 2006. The infrastructure is one the biggest at a national level. The port was included in the major new national logistics program that, besides new business and logistical platforms also includes, in the case of Leixões, a new terminal for passengers.
Mobility issues
The city faces serious mobility problems raised by the new mobility patterns (longer trips, urban sprawl, etc.). The car is seen as the natural option and the policies have mainly been directed towards the increase of road capacity, neglecting the public transport re-adaptation to this new reality (exception for the towns within the area served by the Metro). This caused serious congestion problems that have now shifted from the centre to the city’s main entrances/exits
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With some exception to the metro system, the public transport culture is almost nonexistent, and it is still seen as a second place choice in the city’s social standards. The fragile institutional organization of the sector also contributes to the inefficiency and reduced image of the transport system.
The same applies to the alternative clean modes (walking and cycling) which are not yet fully seen by general public as plausible options for tackling down the mobility problems. CIVITAS ELAN is seen as an important opportunity to foster necessary changes towards a more sustainable urban transport system.
Current policies
Environmental policies: Porto has been a part of the Agenda XXI in the scope of the Iberian northwest Atlantic Axle, with 9 other Cities in the North of Portugal and 7 Cities from the North of Spain. The project aimed to make a diagnosis and propose specific measures to improve the environmental quality of the participant cities and the Metropolitan Environment Strategy now under preparation. Porto has also had a successful candidature for the ECHO XXI project and has been promoted for the Association Blue Flag of Europe, recognizing good practices in sustainable development. At the moment, large investments are being made to guarantee the Blue Flag in the majority of the town beaches.
Mobility: Among the most important recent investments in the public transport systems are the new metro system, enlargement of the road motorway system and the investments for the capacity increasing at the Port and Airport. All of these investments are intended to achieve significant impacts on a mobility and economical level. In terms of urban mobility standards, the expansion of the metro system is clearly seen as the investment with bigger impacts in the city. Main changes at the organisational level with the creation of the Oporto Metropolitan Transportation Authority are expected to strongly contribute to the rise of mobility standards at the local and regional level.
The most recent proof of that commitment is the announcement of a new Mobility Plan for the city, which will substitute the current plan of 2001. The objective is to create a more participatory plan, congregating the requests of the main stakeholders and general public with the mobility and environmental challenges of the new decade to come.
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