Brussels, Feb. 4, 2026 (Lusa) - The European Court of Auditors states in a report that Lisbon's transport plan has not made public transport an effective alternative to cars for those who need to commute between home and work.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) report, released on Wednesday, is based on an audit of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) in six European cities: Lisbon, Seville (Spain), Prague (Czech Republic), Budapest (Hungary), Lille (France) and Katowice (Poland).
In Lisbon, as in Seville, Lille and Katowice, the ECA points out that "public transport is not competitive with car travel" for most people who need to commute between home and work.
In the case of Lisbon, the ECA gives an example of a journey from Avessada, a village in the district of Mafra (north Lisbon region), to Lisbon airport: according to the court's calculations, the journey takes 33 minutes by car, but 80 minutes by public transport.
Among the reasons identified for this situation, the ECA highlights the fact that Lisbon's mobility plan does not cover a large geographical area, which includes the areas of Benavente, Alenquer, Azambuja, Sobral de Monte Agraço and Arruda dos Vinhos, where at least 15% of the population works in the capital.
In these areas, the ECA indicates that there is no viable alternative to the car, since "the availability of public transport [in these locations] is much lower".
By not covering these areas, the ECA estimates that Lisbon's mobility plan ignores about one tenth of the daily trips made by citizens between home and work. The rate, although significantly lower than in cities such as Seville (64%), Budapest (46%) or Lille (21%), is higher than in Prague (5%) and Katowice (-11%).
The "exclusion of a significant part" of these traffic flows, warns the ECA, "undermines the plan's ability to respond comprehensively to mobility challenges and achieve the sustainable mobility objectives that most require intervention".
Another reason why public transport has not become more competitive is the lack of policies to discourage car use, for example by establishing traffic restriction zones or limiting parking spaces.
In the case of Lisbon, the ECA notes that "fewer parking spaces have been authorised in new buildings" in areas close to public transport stations, and that access to traffic has been regulated in some areas, but no financial incentive policies have been developed to discourage car use, unlike in Lille, for example.
In the French city, the ECA notes that "a scheme has been set up to reduce the use of private cars during peak hours, paying drivers for each car journey they avoid in defined corridors".
In a statement accompanying the report, the ECA argues that "cities need to do more to get people out of their cars", pointing out that, at present, "cars can reach many more areas" than public transport, "even at peak times".
"Efforts to convince people to use sustainable (i.e. environmentally friendly) transport instead of cars are often insufficient, especially at city level, which is where urban mobility is managed," the statement reads.
The ECA audit was carried out in January 2025, so the Lisbon mobility project that was analysed was the one from 2019, and not the one approved by the Municipal Assembly in September 2025.
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