China News Service, March 7th. According to Eurolink, quoting the European Union News Agency on March 7th, the European Audit Office pointed out that despite the traffic congestion, European commuters still prefer driving over public transportation.

According to the British "Guardian" reported that the European Union invested 16.3 billion euros to promote urban transport improvement plans from 2014 to 2020, changing the way people travel to urban areas. However, the European Audit Office found that the public's willingness to use public transportation or to ride a bicycle has not increased significantly.

The European Court of Auditors mentioned in the EU Urban Perpetual Mobility Report that persuading citizens to leave driving comfort zones and adopt other forms of transportation is often a challenge. Even though many cities have introduced measures to increase the quality and quantity of mass transit, the use of private cars has not been significantly reduced.

The European Audit Office surveyed eight cities in Germany, Spain, Poland, and Italy, and further investigated 88 cities. After evaluating 15 transportation plans, it called on European countries to improve their political leadership.

Auditors from the European Court of Auditors said that even with increasing traffic congestion, driving into urban areas is faster than taking public transportation, resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions. However, the report points out that the areas of Madrid, Barcelona, ​​and Hamburg, which can be reached within 30 minutes by driving during peak hours in 2019, are smaller than in 2012. Palermo, Warsaw, Naples, and Leipzig have similar situations.

In addition, in most of the cities analyzed, greenhouse gas emissions continued to increase due to increasing traffic volume and worsening congestion.

Although local governments have received EU subsidies, they have not complied with EU guidelines on how to use funds. Few cities have implemented fare congestion policies and have not actively built bicycle lanes, and the mass transportation system is facing financial pressure.

Senior auditors said the EU's funding should be more closely linked to plans to change people's modes of transport. (Li Sijia)