ESG welcomes eco-friendly transport measures and tighter regulations

The ESG has welcomed Government initiatives on transport which it says have addressed some areas of concern.

It's held briefing meetings with the Department of Transport throughout. 

One of the initiatives welcomed by the ESG is the fact that the bus fleet is now running on HVO fuel which reduces harmful emissions by up to 90%. 

It hopes this will be followed by all private, tourism and commercial vehicles switching to HVO, a move, it says, better facilitated by removing import duty on HVO fuel for road vehicles- an initiative already in place in shipping.

The ESG also feels it's positive to hear about the tightening up of food take-away companies' practice regarding staff, pay, uniform, unique numbers, licences, and registration. The making of a mandatory taxi service at the airport during all flight activity is, according to the group, long overdue and welcomed.

On the matter of tourist cycling groups, the ESG considers there should be a limit on group sizes to protect the safety of cyclists and other road users and limit the risk of accidents.

Additionally, the group has been calling for Wayfinding Signs to be installed around Gibraltar to support active travel and encourage more people to walk.  These were mentioned in this year’s budget to be at design stage and the ESG hopes they will be seen soon.

At a meeting, Government also announced the new, replacement Upper Town buses would be purchased imminently.