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A desire to use inexpensive diesel,
coupled with a lack of funds for infrastructure improvements, mean traffic
and foul emissions are big problems in the capitals of Yugoslavia and
FYR Macedonia
By Marijana Ivanova
When looking at a tale of two cities in South Eastern
Europe - Skopje and Belgrade - it becomes clear that traffic is mostly
to blame for serious air pollution problems in both capitals.
Both cities are experiencing a trend toward increased
use of diesel, which is a less-expensive fuel, but in older engines it
generates more pollution. Heavily polluting diesel engines are found more
often in private cars, and in all buses, in the two cities.
Belgrade and Skopje are in need of improved air monitoring,
but financial constraints limit the amount of testing done in the two
capitals. And limited government budgets mean that investments to reduce
pollution from traffic, including a much-needed metro (underground) in
Belgrade or a tram system in Skopje, must be delayed for now.
A comparison of the two cities reveals similar problems
- and a need for similar solutions.
Belgrade:
Heavy concentrations of soot
It is estimated that the Yugoslavian capital of Belgrade,
which had a population of roughly 2 million, absorbed an additional 200,000
people since the 1998 war. The population increase, coupled with the country's
difficult economic situation, has led to a worsening of pollution from
traffic, which was already generating more than 50 percent of Belgrade's
air pollution in 1996, according to experts.
"The economic sanctions that were imposed on Yugoslavia
for several years made the situation even worse. People used low quality
fuel, and lot of them started to use diesel fuel," said Dr. Angjelka Mihailov,
director of Environmental Protection in the Republic of Serbia's Ministry
of Health and Environmental Protection.
According to a 1999 study by the Institute for Traffic,
the density of traffic in the city has increased 44 percent in comparison
to 1991.
At the moment, there are an estimated 365,000 cars in
Belgrade. There are 532 public transport vehicles during the summer and
710 during the winter. Almost half of these are rail vehicles, using electricity,
but the others are mainly older, diesel vehicles.
The main components of air pollution from traffic are
carbon monoxide, lead, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, BaP (3.4 benzo[a]pyrene)
as an index compound for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and soot, according
to Dr. Snezana Matich-Besarabich, chief of the Laboratory for Human Ecology
in the Belgrade Institute for Health Protection.
"The main component of the soot is carbon monoxide, but
also BaP, which is a proven carcinogen and which comes from the use of
diesel fuel," Matich-Besarabich said.
Monitoring in the city centre indicates serious pollution.
On the busy street of ulica 29. novembra, there were 141 days in the year
2000 when soot was over the limited value.
Solutions
for Belgrade: Ring road, metro
Though there is no quick solution, officials are looking
at several ways to improve Belgrade's transportation. In a French-government
funded project, the capital is working on a new detailed urban plan.
"We plan to establish a ring around the city centre and
to limit the traffic in the centre É It should be semi-pedestrian zone,"
said Radovan Drashkich the member of the Belgrade government responsible
for environmental protection. "A big parking zone is planned around that
ring, from where people will be transferred to the centre by public transport.
Also, we are planning on spreading public transport by rail - trams and
trolleys."
Long-term plans include a metro, Drashkich said, but he
added that the local and national government cannot afford such infrastructure
investment at the moment. Currently, parts of the rail system go underground,
and these can be used as the basis for a future metro, he said. He noted
that this rail system is important, because it unites Belgrade with the
suburbs, from where more and more people are commuting to work in the
city.
Experience has shown that a metro is not a cure-all:
It can create new problems by simply making space for more cars, thereby
encouraging more people to drive.
Legislation in Belgrade affecting traffic includes the
requirement that all new planned streets are analysed for their environmental
impact, according to Mihailov.
"We are also planning for the substitution of leaded petrol
and diesel fuel," Mihailov said. "But the grace period has to be realistic
and acceptable for the people. We believe the moment is still not ripe."
Skopje: The
polluted valley
Skopje is situated in a valley surrounded by mountains,
which means there are limited winds to remove pollution from the FYR Macedonian
capital. Traffic is definitely one of the biggest sources of pollution
in the city. Skopje has around 700,000 inhabitants, 140,000 cars and about
2,500 heavy vehicles, a figure that includes 647 buses.
"We have huge air pollution from traffic, because there
are many more vehicles than the streets are designed for," said Alexandar
Meshko, project manager in INPUMA - Institute for Urbanism, Traffic and
Environment from Skopje. "If this situation continues, we estimate that,
in 2020, the traffic in Skopje will collapse - it will simply stop."
Two years ago, INPUMA made a study of Skopje's traffic
for the city government and the Ministry for Urbanism. The study recommends
two express magistral roads and one which would connect them; other connecting
streets and magistral streets; wider streets; and, wherever possible,
overpasses and underground tunnels, to help vehicles move quickly past
certain intersections.
Meshko said there are about 30 locations around Skopje
that would benefit from over-passes or tunnels, adding that, if these
were in place, "traffic circulation will be three times bigger, traffic
jams and slow-downs would be prevented and there would be much less pollution."
However, experience in some western cities has shown that
helping traffic move quickly in the short term, may just encourage more
people to drive - and eventually bring about new traffic jams.
The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning has
limited data on the effects of Skopje's traffic, but the data they do
have indicates that traffic contributes more than 50 percent of the air
pollution in the city. Annually, the city is exposed to emissions of 4,169
tonnes of carbon monoxide, 1,943 tonnes of nitrogen oxides, 6,345 tonnes
of carbon dioxide and 284 tonnes of dust. Low-cost diesel is, unfortunately,
becoming the main fuel in Skopje. Older, less-efficient diesel engines
can be found in all public transport vehicles and many private cars.
Officials acknowledge tht there is insufficient air monitoring
in Skopje, but where it is measured, the pollution is shown to be increasing.
Skopje plans
tramlines
Although the city government has limited responsibilities in the field
of environment, the very "green team" of Mayor Risto Penov has tried to
improve the situation in Skopje. A 2.5-kilometre-long bike path was recently
built along the Vardar River, and there are plans to build an 11.5-kilometre
path that goes through the centre and connects the two ends of town.
A more ambitious plan by the city government is the establishment
of tramlines. At the moment, public transit in the city only involves
buses, all of which use diesel fuel and most of which are old and in need
of replacing. There are currently insufficient funds to build a tramline
in Skopje, but this is seen as the best way to relieve traffic in the
city centre, where, at one of the busier bus stops on Veljko Vlahovic
Street, there is sometimes a circulation of more than 150 buses in one
hour.
"The tram is a big capacity vehicle and environmentally
friendly," according to Meshko of INPUMA. "In our study, we propose building
an underground corridor under the very centre, which would become a pedestrian
area. Because the tram would also pass through that tunnel, it would act
as a metro."
Development of a full-fledged metro is considered impractical
in cities with a population of less than 2 million.
The city government is very supportive of building a pedestrian
area in the city centre. The government also supports the establishment
of one-way traffic, in a system similar to that in place in Thessaloniki,
Greece, to keep traffic moving more briskly. Meshko says that both of
these measures are relatively inexpensive, and should be undertaken as
soon as possible.
Other relatively low-cost measures that can be undertaken
quickly to improve Skopje's air quality include better timing on traffic
lights and planting of trees downtown.
"Although Skopje does not have enough trees per capita,
it has more trees planted along the streets than some big European cities
- for example, twice as much as Budapest," Meshko said.
Marijana Ivanova is an award-winning journalist and
an environmental activist in FYR Macedonia.
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