It is already unbearable how the drivers oppress us, complain the activists who have been demonstrating in Prague since March for a general reduction of the speed to 30 kilometers per hour. It will not help anything, the motorists refuse the change. The proposal arouses emotions, although it is not clear what the solution should look like. Traffic experts warn that it will complicate traffic, but will help reduce the number of accidents and build new parking spaces.
Before setting off through Prague, drivers check whether the route is blocked or slowed down by one of the many road closures. In recent weeks, there has also been the question of whether the Last Generation association is planning another march for the widespread introduction of a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour in the territory of the capital.
The protest that started on Thursday from Karlín was already the ninth since the beginning of March. He asked for more security, a more favorable public space, less noise and emissions. “We are annoyed by the unbearable dominance of cars. Drivers complain that we limit them during the half-hour marches. But they oppress pedestrians and cyclists for the rest of the week,” reported one of the organizers while handing out drums, ratchets and reflective vests.
Before long, 150 people were already marching along one of the lanes of the North-South Highway, which cuts through the center of Prague. There was honking from the cars, sometimes accompanied by a raised middle finger. “Thirty won’t help,” sighed the driver of a silver convertible while waiting for the police to clear traffic at one of the intersections.
Critics from the ranks of politicians and the public consider the flat thirty to be harassment of drivers, while activists say that it is common abroad. In September, it was 30 years since Graz was the first city in Europe to introduce it. With the exception of the main moves, it also passed in Paris, it also applies in Madrid and Brussels.
How fast drivers can drive in Prague is decided today by the management of individual city districts. The municipality is in charge of the main moves of the metropolis. However, the introduction of such a broad measure as the blanket 30 would, however, be initiated by the municipality in the event of agreement at the council. To change, he would need the support of the city districts, which could continue to decide on exceptions, and the state administration.
“Thirty reduces the risk of an accident and possible consequences,” says traffic expert Zdeněk Lokaj from the Czech Technical University. “It also brings a better view for drivers who are approaching the intersection,” he agrees with the main argument of the supporters of the change, i.e. with higher safety.
The data confirms his opinion. A study from Switzerland published this year evaluated the introduction of the 30 in six hundred places – the number of accidents in them dropped by 38 percent on average. In Toronto, the change from a 40 to 30 kilometers per hour maximum speed limit contributed to a 67 percent reduction in accidents resulting in death or serious injury. The World Health Organization also recommends the expansion of zones with thirty.
It is less clear whether the change would also help improve the air quality. It depends on where it would be introduced, says Michal Vojtíšek from the Center for Sustainable Mobility Vehicles of the Czech Technical University. In the city center with heavy traffic, thanks to the 30, drivers will accelerate and decelerate less often, emissions from exhausts, brake wear and tires will therefore decrease, he says.
On the other hand, he does not recommend the change on long streets with little traffic. Cars can use more fuel when driven slower, and their emissions-reducing technology will work harder because of the cooler exhaust gases. “In general, however, the impact of reducing speed on fuel consumption and emissions will be rather positive,” summarizes Vojtíšek.
Traffic signs and traffic lights could also be reduced in zones with 30. “This brings the possibility of more efficient management of space and more parking spaces,” reminds transport urban planner Tomáš Cach, who participated in the planning of several slower zones in Prague.
When introducing them, however, it is not possible to simply copy the Western European model, warns transport expert Zdeněk Lokaj. “In Prague, we have a geographically fragmented environment with several bottlenecks on the bridges over the Vltava, and key bypass routes are also missing,” he says. According to him, the 30 would make traffic even more complicated in many places and overload the stretches where the 50 would remain.
Speed restrictions already apply in Prague 7, similar to the ones in Karlín, Podolí, Nuslí or in housing estates. Zones with 30 are also increasing in Prague 3, where, according to a recent survey, the majority of residents want them. “The main advantage of the blanket measure is that it becomes a basic rule that everyone knows,” says urban planner and local representative Matěj Michalk Žaloudek from the Green Party, one of the supporters of the change.
A more appropriate tool would be a petition for a local referendum. Nevertheless, in Prague, the authorities of city districts are gradually introducing a speed limit of 30 km/h, for example in the vicinity of schools and kindergartens, but also in other places. That certainly makes sense. But I don’t think it’s appropriate on the highway now. pic.twitter.com/dQsSLiecx4
— Zdenek Hřib (@ZdenekHrib) March 11, 2023
He advises to keep the 50 on the city ring road, highways and where trams and public transport buses run. The effect of a thirty-kilometer speed is expected to be wider than that suggested by traffic analyses. “We can’t model what this will do to the psyche of people. Those who decide not to drive because they don’t want to drive through the city in their 30s, or those who notice that public space is suddenly less hostile to them,” he says.
The municipality will be involved in the solution on April 20, when the Prague deputy for transport, Zdeněk Hřib, from the side of the Pirates, will meet with the activists. He also invited Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda from ODS to the meeting. However, the town hall manages only backbone communications. “I will not renounce the coordinating role and will open the topic at the next meeting with the representatives of the city districts,” says Hřib, according to whom some districts should add to the introduction of zones.
The broad measure is unequivocally rejected by the ANO opposition movement. “Where it makes sense, city districts are already introducing it. In narrow streets, residential areas, in front of schools or homes for the elderly,” says the head of his representatives, Patrik Nacher.
Tomáš Portlík from the ODS, mayor of Prague 9 and head of representatives of the coalition Together for Prague (ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL), the strongest club in the municipality, has a similar opinion. He does not agree with the widespread introduction, but in his district he advocates a slowdown. “We’re going that way naturally, the 30s are expanding in residential zones. In four years, maybe we’ll find out that we didn’t need someone to walk with a stroller on the highway,” he says, adding that the other coalition representatives have the same attitude.
Even the representatives of the two largest cities after Prague, i.e. Ostrava and Brno, do not plan Třícítka across the board. The South Moravian metropolis is introducing it in places where it builds resident parking. “Last year, it expanded to seven areas,” said city spokesman Filip Poňuchálek.
Town planner Tomáš Cach expects a gradual transition of cities and towns to a speed of thirty kilometers. “It’s an evolution, not a revolution. A quarter of a century ago, the maximum speed in the village was reduced to 50 from 60 kilometers per hour. It greatly helped safety and comfort. In ten, twenty years, we’ll even have 30,” the development estimates.
Video: We believe that our protest makes sense, say supporters of the thirty in the city
Several dozen supporters of traffic restrictions from the Last generation association repeatedly walk the road in Prague and ask for a debate on reducing the speed of cars. | Video: Radek Bartoníček
