The city of Pontevedra, Spain has been restricting car use since 1999. This article outlines transferable lessons the city has learned along the way, such as the following.
- It is critical to support car use for essential purposes, and to at the same time make it less convenient to drive for non-essential purposes. For example, Pontevedra reduced on-street parking and converted some traffic lanes to sidewalks.
- In addition to making car travel less convenient, lower car speed limits and the use of speed bumps also made walking, cycling, and driving safer.
- Pontevedra's experience shows that, rather than decimating local business, restricting car use can attract new residents, revitalize a city, and increase its net business growth.
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