World Day for Sustainable Transport: Taxi National Association Emphasizes Its Contribution

The UN General Assembly has decided to establish a World Day for Sustainable Mobility. Starting this year, it will draw attention to sustainable transport options for climate protection every year on November 26th. This comes from a press release by the German Association of Taxi and Rental Cars (BVTM) dated May 22, 2023, in which CEO Michael Oppermann describes this "recognition" as "correct" and "long overdue."

As a justification, he states that the mobile sector in this country has long been committed to clean mobility and has actively participated in the transformation from combustion engines to e-mobility. Once again, the example of Hamburg is cited, where according to Oppermann about one-seventh of all taxis or around 400 vehicles are already powered by electricity.

According to Oppermann, the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the worldwide umbrella organization, has been advocating for the introduction of the new World Day for Sustainable Mobility. The BVTM CEO was elected to the IRU board in 2021 as a representative of the BVTM.

Long before the rise of electromobility, taxi operators and their associations regularly promoted drivetrains that were considered particularly environmentally friendly at the time and often acted as pioneers in this area. Examples included campaigns for biodiesel aka rapeseed methyl ester, autogas, or natural gas. This, however, was long before the creation of the BVTM.