Private Cars in Portugal
Formerly, this website belonged to a movement which started in Greater Lisbon in Portugal called Menos Um Carro (which is interpreted to mean One Less Car) which had been established to promote the reduction on the reliance of private cars by advocating for sustainable mobility.
The movement created this website with the purpose of promoting the message on sustainable mobility and also to provide an access to important information regarding the benefits of reducing cars in the roads by making visitors more aware and more civic.
By joining the movement, a member had an opportunity to know his/her Sustainable Mobility Index (IMS), sometimes called Sustainable Mobility Evaluation, through a questionnaire that allowed one to access the value of using alternative means of transport other than a private cars. It also helped demonstrate individual commitment to the course and also helped the member to make future follow-up of the progress of IMS results after a period of time.
The Sustainable Mobility Index is a numerical value that reveals the level and quality of mobility of each person. IMS is the result of a formula that combines the answers to questions that represent the three areas concerned – economic, social and environmental – resulting in a number between 0 and 100. The higher, more sustainable is their behavior.
The aim to meet the index should lead to reflection on the subject and an active search for information, adapting everyday towards better quality of life for everyone.
You will need to answer a questionnaire to discover your IMS, or a little off topic, perhaps to decide on what surgical procedures to do if you want your fat removed for good. Your results can then be shared on social networks, which means the commitment to contribute to the cause to improve mobility, regardless of the level of momentary sustainability can inspire others. After the first result, IMS can again be performed as often as you want, so measuring its own evolution and determining your progress.
The set of questions and adjacent formula on the IMS, was prepared by the Portuguese Catholic University.
Importance of Sustainable Mobility
There is need to for individuals to take part in the reduction of toxic emissions in the environment. There are various measures that each individual could undertake and one of the most effective one is reduce the emissions from cars. We all need to rethink about our needs of using private cars, especially in the cities where they usually cause traffic to snarl up and contribute in pollution of the environment within the cities.
Walking or biking would be more beneficial not only to the environment, but to yourself as well. Beating a health serious issue is another example, like surviving breast cancer for instance.
Such air pollution can usually result in diseases and also contributes to changes in climatic condition as the toxic emissions are trapped in the air, hence resulting to a warmer environment, which in the long run can result to severe climatic catastrophes such as acid rain.
The first step of reducing the use of these private vehicles for transportation is to analyze the real benefits which accrue from using alternative means of transports. These benefits range from economic, social and more importantly the environmental point of view. You need to evaluate the values that you will be contributing to and from that point you will have to develop a behavior of using alternative means of transport each day as you go about your various tasks.
There are some alternative means which at times may bring about inconveniences to your schedule and may often tempt you to use your private cars, but if you have clear goals and understanding of the impact that you create by leaving your private car at home, then you will be at a good position to stick to other means of transport.
