# Sources - the fact sheet given with the brief (all invented)

The town, the council, the university, the survey and every number are fictional. They are the only facts the essay may use.

[1] Vila Serena Municipal Council, "Old Town Traffic Report", March 2026. On an average weekday 6,400 cars enter the old town's 14 streets; 71% are through-traffic that neither stops nor parks. Average speed on Rua Direita is 9 km/h between 08:00 and 10:00. The council counted 38 minor collisions in the old town in 2025, 11 involving a pedestrian. The report estimates a full car ban would cost €1.2 million in road changes and signage and remove 210 on-street parking spaces.

[2] Old Town Traders' Association, survey of 96 shops, February 2026. 58 shops said they oppose a ban, 31 support it, 7 had no view. Traders who oppose it expect to lose an average of 15% of turnover in the first year; the six shops on the one street already closed to cars (Rua das Flores, since 2023) report turnover up 22% since the closure. 41 of the 96 shops rely on daily van deliveries between 07:00 and 11:00.

[3] University of Vila Serena, Department of Civil Engineering, "Air quality and footfall on Rua das Flores before and after closure", November 2025. Nitrogen dioxide on the street fell from 44 to 19 micrograms per cubic metre; footfall rose 34% on weekdays and 61% at weekends. The study notes the effect on neighbouring streets was not measured, and that the figure for cars entering the old town differs from the council's: the university's own count found 5,100 cars on an average weekday, not 6,400.