Author | Arantxa HerranzAt the estuary of the Tagus River, the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula, stands Lisbon, the capital of Portugal and the 2020 European Green Capital award winner.Lisbon is considered to be one of the most environmentally-friendly cities in the world, but it also has an exemplary urban mobility model. However, to reach this point, the city experienced great changes that were not always easy to digest. The earthquake that devastated the city in 1755 defined its character, and, more recently, the economic crisis of 2008, marked a turning point for this city with barely half a million inhabitants.
Sustainability and mobility as its flagship initiative

Electric vehicles and public transport
To achieve this, the municipal transport company played an important role. Today this agency operates over 200 light vehicles, 91% of which are electric and 9% are hybrid. The organization has gradually increased the number of electric vehicles; the aim is to reach 420 buses and 25 streetcars by 2023. This strategy entails an investment of 252 million euros, but the aim is also for 150,000 people, who use private vehicles, to stop doing so in favor of public transport.Lisbon will have to convince drivers of the benefits of this strategy; around 6 in 10 journeys within the capital are made using cars.Mobility as a service
Miguel Gaspar defends that cities cannot be monopolistic in terms of mobility. Therefore, his entire strategy has always taken into account public opinion and the contribution of private companies, which also offer transport alternatives. “They are much better at innovation than us”, he believes.Every two weeks, Lisbon holds a meeting with mobility solutions providers operating in the city, 16 to date. The public transport system is complemented with a private supply of shared electric motorcycles: 12,000 units from 9 different companies, offering a solution to the last mile transportation problem. This system, however, also takes into account the aspects mentioned earlier: respecting public spaces for pedestrians. In fact, the law establishes fines for motorcycles that dirty the pavements or those that are parked badly, invading public spaces.This collaboration also seeks to recover users that public transport had lost. Therefore, they decided to apply Mobility as a Service (Maas) policies to complete the mobility services on offer.
