Eltis calls for stakeholders and city authorities to update their listed Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans and help refresh the resource.
The Eltis City Database is an information repository featuring Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) and Transport plans from across Europe. To retain relevance the database requires regular updates; Eltis is now undertaking a comprehensive overhaul of the database’s structure and usability.
The end goal of the City Database is to include accurate SUMP information for all European cities, with 1,313 cities already covered. At this scale, the assistance of stakeholders and city authorities is incredibly useful.
The Digital Europe Program, which brings digital technologies to businesses, citizens, and public administrations has released calls for proposals under the categories “deployment of the data space for mobility” and “deployment of the data space for smart communities“
The Programme is pleased to share the deployment call for the common European mobility data space. Funded under the Digital Europe Programme, the call has a budget of €8 million. Its primary focus lies in identifying and supporting the deployment of mobility data-sharing use cases in the area of urban mobility, based on data space building blocks. This will allow the deployment of an operational data space enabling participants to make available and share data in a controlled, simple and secure way.
With a budget of €8 million, this call seeks to pilot and apply the principles of the data space for smart communities on a large scale and with a large geographical coverage, to build EU capacity for connecting data from all relevant domains. The call will fund a consortium of relevant supply and demand-side stakeholders to foster innovation among many European cities and communities.
Especially relevant is that the call focuses, among other things, on predictive traffic management and sustainable mobility planning. It will exploit synergies with the common European mobility data space and with the data available on transport National Access Points, and make use of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Indicators (SUMI).
The latest draft Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) guide aims to provide guidance to urban mobility practitioners, policymakers, school management, and both public and private employers who wish to implement mobility management measures in their jurisdictions.
The latest SUMP guide from Eltis is currently in draft form and will focus on five main areas where transport planning can better include mobility management: urban developments, public authorities, companies, the education sector, as well as the tourism and leisure sectors. Each sector will be fully explored, outlining key recommendations, and examples of excellent practice from across Europe.
“The first draft of the Topic Guide has been developed by the Policy Support Group of the CIVITAS ELEVATE Coordination and Support Action, which consists of experts from five organisations (European Platform on Mobility Management, Klimaaktiv mobil, Tisséo Collectivités, Alba Iulia Municipality, Gdansk Municipality), the CIVITAS Policy Advisory Committee, TRT (Trasporti e Territorio), and a group of stakeholders from the mobility management sector.
The public is warmly invited to participate in the consultation process. Public consultation is an important step of the process, as it allows stakeholders to contribute to the development of the Guide, as well as ensure that it is relevant to all urban mobility actors.”
To contribute to the SUMP Guide’s public consultation, visit the Eltis website, here. The window for feedback is open until Tuesday 13 December 2022.
Europe’s main observatory on urban mobility, Eltis, releases write-up on the role of local authorities in planning and managing rapidly growing new mobility services
The case study of Paris explores how action was taken after the swift introduction of free-floating e-scooter fleets and increased personal ownership, including the introduction of a Code of Good Conduct while awaiting a legal framework.
Of key interest is the 18-month period that could be considered a ‘legal vacuum’, in which e-scooters were not subject to the Highway Code, and the National Law on Mobility (LOM) was stalled as it awaited approval by the French government.
Paris’ governing body acted to create a working group for all e-scooter stakeholders, inviting operators of the devices to sign a Code of Good Conduct before the end of May 2019. From here, any new operator of e-scooters in the region was invited to join the group to discuss the use of rental e-scooters in public spaces.
The Code of Good Conduct provided guiding principles and paved the way for good public-private collaboration. Operators were encouraged to work on a deployment strategy that respects other users, with the main aspects of the Code covering:
Parking and riding rules
Operators’ commitments regarding safety and security
Respect for other users, particularly people with disabilities
Relationship with the city authorities
Use of e-scooters in line with sustainability priorities of the city.
Stress was placed on the need to ensure pedestrian comfort and safety while awaiting national legislation. Paris is a leading example of local governance and public-private cooperation. Other similar cities are increasingly deciding to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to managing the offer and operations of new mobility services.
In a landscape where cities are experiencing a transport transformation in many forms, a well-regulated and integrated urban mobility policy will ensure a smooth transition that is a success for all users of public space and road systems.
Using Paris as a case study, transport planners may observe both successes and challenges in adapting to unfolding technological advances. Read the full Eltis write-up, which includes additional context, results, transferability, and opportunities for development, here.
Micromobility has the potential to revolutionize city living but brings new challenges. As the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) Topic Guide produced by Eltis becomes available in additional languages, its message can reach further and promote ‘Vision Zero’.
“The Topic Guide is part of a compendium of EU guidance documents, complementing the revised second edition of the SUMP Guidelines. It proposes best practices and key recommendations on the integration of micromobility in urban mobility planning, with the goal to support cities in achieving a safer use of micromobility devices in urban areas. It should also support the European Commission in delivering Action 22 of the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. It focuses on shared electrically powered personal mobility devices such as e-scooters and provides some guidance on how the users of these vehicles interact with the users of bicycles and electric power-assisted cycles (EPACs), as well as pedestrians and other road users.
The Topic Guide also provides recommendations on integrating micromobility into the ‘Vision Zero’ approach to mobility and planning, which aims to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. It highlights the need to urgently integrate e-scooters into cities’ Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), but also into Vision Zero Safety Plans and other relevant plans such as urban development plans.”
The Topic Guide can be accessed in English, here. Other guides and alternate language editions can be found here.
Comments Off on Toolbox for Mobility Management produced by cities.multimodal project
The cities.multimodal project (2017-2021), co-funded by the EU, aims to transition urban transport towards low carbon mobility. It has brought together cities and industry experts to find and implement sustainable mobility solutions in the Baltic Sea Region.
“Within the project, partner cities developed and applied contemporary sustainable urban mobility approaches, with various activities and measures being implemented to promote walking, cycling, public transport and shared mobility services as more favourable alternatives to private car use.
TheToolbox for Mobility Management offers both advice and information, allowing institutions to easily and effectively apply this sustainable approach to their travel practices. There are clear and comprehensive chapters for each target group, encouraging local projects to be set up within their community. The project’s goal is to engage as many as possible in implementing relevant Mobility Management concepts.
Source: ELTIS by Hannah Figg, 19 March 2021 – TRIMIS (the Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System portal) is an open-access knowledge management system that consists of a large database of EU-funded and nationally-funded transport research projects and programmes together with an inventory of transport technologies and innovations.
It provides an assessment of technology trends and transport R&I capacities in the EU and aims at disseminating information and data to a wide range of stakeholders, as well as developing analytical tools relevant to the European transport system. It is an important resource which currently contains information on approximately 9,000 transport R&I projects and programmes, including many related to urban mobility, and acts as a central hub for transport researchers and policy makers all over Europe.
In 2017, the European Commission (EC) adopted the Strategic Transport Research and Innovation Agenda (STRIA) to promote transport research and innovation (R&I) for clean, connected and competitive mobility in the EU. Seven STRIA roadmaps that outlined priority areas with specific actions for future R&I were identified:
Specifically, the EC’s Joint Research Centre and TRIMIS address many aspects related to urban mobility and produced several analyses and reports including:
The 2019‘Future of Cities’ report: This considers how cities can address future mobility challenges. It highlights the factors which are contributing to change in urban areas, bringing attention to future challenges, and sets out how cities can adopt solutions to develop cities of the future. For more information see here.
A 2019 TRIMISDigest on urban freight logistics: It explores the challenges or urban freight transport policies, electric vehicles and electric-assisted cargo bicycles as the solution for urban freight and the benefits of crowdshipping for urban logistics. For more information see here.
A 2019 TRIMIS Digest on shared mobility: It discusses shared mobility models, the role of car-sharing in low-carbon mobility, willingness in car sharing and what users think about MaaS. For more information see here.
A 2020 TRIMIS Digest focussing on sustainable urban freight: It explores the opportunities and challenges for innovative technologies to change the urban freight system, costs for electric light commercial vehicle, the impact of relocating freight facilities to the city edge on CO2 emissions, and how stakeholders can have a significant influence on freight operators. For more information see here.
The 2020 ‘Research and innovation in smart mobility and services in Europe’ Report: This report provides a comprehensive analysis of R&I in smart mobility and services in Europe. It critically assesses research by thematic area and technologies, highlighting recent developments and future needs.
The 2020 ‘Research and innovation in transport electrification‘ Report: This report provides a comprehensive analysis of R&I in transport electrification, having a major role to play in decarbonising transport (including urban) and in reducing its fossil fuel dependency.
The Guidelines for developing and implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (also known as the SUMP Guidelines) were originally published in 2013.
Since then, many cities in Europe and around the world have developed SUMPs. However, since 2013, there have been significant changes in urban mobility which have created new challenges for practitioners to address. Technological advances and the willingness of the general public to enthusiastically adopt new transport modes – moving from the traditional private car ownership model to new types of shared (e)mobility – have provided a rapidly changing backdrop for urban mobility practitioners and stakeholders to manage.
The second edition of the SUMP Guidelines has taken on board the dynamic and rapidly evolving urban mobility challenges following extensive stakeholder consultation and contributions from experts. In addition, the authors have produced a number of new thematic guides and practitioner briefings to further aid in the development and implementation of SUMPs.
The Guidelines for developing and implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (2nd Edition) can be downloaded here, along with all accompanying thematic guides.
Eltis has also produced a series of video clips, introducing the revisions, hearing from thematic guide authors and helping viewers to understand who can use the revised guidelines and also explain the 8 key SUMP principles.
A recent report from Transport & Environment, the European federation of transport and environmental associations, examined the various low emission zones that have been implemented across the EU in the last few years. It found that Madrid Central, the low emission zone in the Spanish Capital, was one of the most effective in reducing nitrogen dioxide, as it delivered a 32% reduction in emission levels.
Madrid Central covers an area of 4.7 square kilometres and restricts access to only those cars that have been identified as being zero-emission, with some exemptions, including for cars of residents.
Even though the data from Madrid Central come from only one measurement station, the report stresses the importance of low emission zones in reducing premature deaths caused by toxic air. The report also noted the popularity of the measures amongst European cities, with more than 250 cities already taking similar measures. The broad uptake of low emission zones to fight air pollution is also generally supported by residents, with around two-thirds of those interviewed stating their support for the measure.
The report also highlights potential areas for improvement to low emission zones. Amongst these is a missing legal definition of what a low emission zone is, as there is a large variety of zones in place, some of which only prohibit access to the oldest vehicles, as in some German cities, while others prohibit a lot more vehicles and have a larger impact, as in the case of Madrid Central.
Low emission zones are identified as a key element in fighting air pollution by Transport & Environment. Their report calls for a transition from low emission zones to zero emission zones as the next step.
Read the full Transport & Environment report here.
Information on all European Low Emission Zones, Congestion Charging & Urban Traffic Restrictions can be found here.