Copenhagen best, Rome worst for clean, safe roads

BERLIN: Bike-friendly capitals Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Oslo have Europe’s cleanest and safest transport systems while heavily congested Rome has the worst, a Greenpeace study found Tuesday.

“Safe roads and clean air go hand-in-hand,” said Greenpeace Clean Air Campaigner Barbara Stoll. “This study shows that when you improve a city’s public transport infrastructure in a sustainable way, people breathe cleaner air and their roads are safer.”

The report, carried out for Greenpeace by Germany’s Wuppertal Institute, ranks 13 European capitals based on factors ranging from air quality to the affordability of public transport and the use of car-sharing services. Car-and scooter-mad Rome, where 65 percent of all journeys are carried out by privately-owned motor vehicles, was deemed the biggest sinner.

Cheap parking and sub-par public transport discouraged drivers from abandoning their cars, the authors found, worsening the city’s air pollution and making its traffic-clogged roads dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.