Zamora (Spain)
Zamora is a city of 67,164 inhabitants and is the capital of the Province of Zamora, located in the Autonomous Community of Castile and Leon in northwest Spain. The city has made some notable measures for a more sustainable transport.
With its 24 Romanesque churches from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it is known as the ?museum of Romanesque art?.
There are no available data on modal split in Zamora. However, Internet sources suggest a continuing increase in car traffic. According to the 2009 Economic Yearbook for Spain, there is one car for every 2.18 inhabitants in Zamora. Out of the total of 41,554 motor vehicles, 30,498 were cars; 5,940 trucks; and 5,116 vans.
The city?s General Urban Plan, adopted in 1973, has been updated on several occasions. In March 2009, the City Council agreed to revise the plan in order to incorporate Castile and Le?n?s regulations on urbanization. The document was prepared with the assistance of the Urban Institute of the University of Valladolid.
The public transport system includes a small network of bus lines operated by SL Zamora Urban Buses (AURZA). Reduced fares for schoolchildren and the elderly are subsidised by the municipality.
Rail transportation is well developed in Zamora, and in 2008 construction work began on the new electrified high-speed, double-track, standard-gauge Olmedo-Zamora-Galicia line. The plan is to connect Madrid and Zamora by 2012, with an estimated travel time of just over one hour.
In 2008, the city launched a public bike service. Bikes can be hired at several locations around the city (the university campus, Carretera de Valorio, Ciudad Deportiva Municipal, and Parque de San Martin).
Summary finalized: September 2010
