On behalf of the Municipality of Funchal, I,
Lívia Silva, would like to point out that it´s a privilege for our city to
participate in this innovative project that will, undoubtedly, prove to be a
relevant tool for planning our city and provide us with the necessary set of
skills to develop a SUMP. Regarding my role within the Municipality, I am the
current head of the Mobility and Traffic Division.
Since 2004 that I work directly on this
Division, in which my initial role was to develop and implement a GIS database
related to traffic and mobility data. The data ranges from parking data (both
public and indoor, classified by type) traffic signs, traffic lights, road
accidents. The GIS database is updated regularly and provides statistics that
supports local decisions and territorial planning.
In these last years, my tasks became more
focused in managing European projects, such as the CIVITAS MIMOSA and the
Covenant of Mayors which played a key role in engaging awareness actions
related to sustainable mobility.
Since I was appointed as the head of the
Mobility and Traffic Division I am directly more related in coordinating
studies such as traffic modelling, modal split, the CIVITAS DESTINATIONS
management and applications for funding. Along with those tasks, I also am
responsible for handling the daily operational management, including traffic
restrictions, parking, traffic signs and traffic light management, just to name
a few.
As for the Municipality of Funchal, my city is the capital of Madeira, an island
with about 758.4 km2, that concentrates an enormous diversity of
landscapes, vegetation, microclimates and traditions. Therefore, it has become
a tourist destination of excellence, attractive throughout the year, thanks to
the amenity of its climate and the wide variety of events promoted. Of course,
islands are always an interesting environment to test mobility solutions.
As for Funchal, the city in which the SUMP will be based on, occupies an
area of 76.15 Km2, distributed in ten parishes, where, based on the
results of the 2011 Census, 111.892 inhabitants (about 41.8% of the population
of the Autonomous Region of Madeira). Therefore, Funchal is the most densely
populated municipality of the Region. This high population density is
aggravated if we take into account that the occupation of the territory does
not happen in a homogeneous way, that is, the settlement of the population is
generally below 700 meters.
Its insularity presents additional challenges for the Region in terms of
transport and accessibility, and this is a major challenge, since it involves a
permanent effort to annul the isolation and maintain constant links with the
outside world. However, it also presents opportunities, since the islands have
a strong attraction and the tourist potential, among others, is valuable.
Transport plays a fundamental role in the economic and social development
of both Madeira and Funchal. The mobility of the population and the movement of
goods and merchandise contributes to the dynamism of the economy and to the
competitiveness of companies, with repercussions on the quality of life of the
population.
Over the past two decades, benefiting from Community funds, Madeira has
implemented an important set of transport infrastructures. At the level of road
accessibility, it is worth highlighting the implementation of a road network
that have significantly improved the internal accessibility, reducing the times
of connection between municipalities and promoting the emergence of new
centralities.
The urban network is macro cephalous, where Funchal occupies the top of the
hierarchy and maintains its hegemony. However, thanks to the new road
infrastructures, the complementarity between this city and the surrounding
urban centers has increased and the urban network has become more cohesive,
making it possible to distinguish a more dense and continuous urbanization.
The results of the 2011 Census show that the inflows and outflows of the
population are quite pronounced in the municipality of Funchal. Due to work or
study, the population that enters the municipality represents about 24.5% of
the resident population. Conversely, the population leaving Funchal represents
only 6.6% of the residents.
The 2011 census also revealed that in the municipality of Funchal, more
than half of the resident population that exercises a profession uses the light
motor vehicle as a driver in its commuting movements (53.24%). 22.16% of the
residents uses the public transport while 11.11% of the population travels on
foot to the workplace.
Following the trend, in the last 10 years, the number of cars in Funchal
has increased by 18% while the number of motorcycles increased by 75.3%.
Residents in Funchal own about 44% of the regional car park. The motorization
rate of the resident population in Funchal was estimated at 430 vehicles/1000
inhabitants in 2015, slightly lower than the national average.
The prevalence of the motorized transport, namely the petrol and diesel car
and its effects upon the environment, particularly noise and pollutants
emissions explains the importance of developing solutions to shift the modal
split towards clean vehicles. Along with this trend, we have identified other
patterns that influences the local mobility system, which greatly justifies the
importance of developing a sustainable urban mobility plan, such as:
·
Congestion/volume
of traffic in the historical center of Funchal (mainly at peak times, taking
and leaving passengers);
·
Structure
of the road network (dimension, slope, paving);
·
Lack
of information for accessibility to different areas;
·
Lack
of connectivity of the pedestrian network;
·
Insufficiency
of the public passenger transport system (urban and interurban);
·
Excessive
concentration of passenger transport vehicles on specific roads;
·
Absence
of bus lanes dedicated to public transport;
·
Poor
freight transport system in the city center;
·
Excessive
street parking in the center of the city;
·
Irregular
parking in charging areas (non-payment and / or parking in an inappropriate
place);
·
Absence
of an effective and efficient system for monitoring and monitoring the
transport system and mobility.
Given this diagnostic, it is expected that the participation of Funchal in
SUMP will be important in improving the quality of urban space and implementing
inclusive and innovative solutions upon the territory.
I take the opportunity to invite you to browse our mobility website that
can give you a perspective of the way our city is organized in terms of
mobility and traffic. Despite the fact that we don´t have an english version,
we offer quite a vast array of pictures www.cm-funchal.pt/mobilidade . Please don´t hesitate if you have any type of question.