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Action plan for energy-efficient public transport infrastructure deployment in Budapest

In June 2022, BKK finalised its Action Plan for Energy-efficient public transport infrastructure deployment in Budapest, funded in the EfficienCE Interreg project. Complementing BKK’s Vehicle Strategy, the document specifies the decarbonisation process of Budapest’s public transport sector for the 2022-2050 timeframe. The action plan evaluated the timing of procurement activities, in order to reach the zero-emission goal for 2050.

In the action plan, BKK experts identified targets and dates for the transformation of bus and trolleybus transport in Budapest. The aim is for all buses and coaches in Budapest to be locally zero-emission by 2050. If the appropriate resources are available, there are plans for:

  • the replacement of the most polluting diesel buses below EURO 5 by 2026 – around 400 pcs;
  • procurement of zero-emission buses (battery-powered trolleybuses and/or e-buses) and development of the necessary charging infrastructure between 2026 and 2030;
  • further procurement of zero-emission buses (battery-powered trolleybuses and/or e-buses) and development of the necessary charging infrastructure;
  • conversion of external operator contracts to zero-emission requirements between 2030 and 2040.

More information about the process can be found here.

The original article was published on 26 June 2022 on the Interreg EfficienCE website.

The importance… of being a NetZeroCity

In the struggle for climate neutrality, 64 participating cities from 22 EU Member States and 3 associated countries have contributed to the report City Needs, Drivers and Barriers Towards Climate Neutrality, which has been released by NetZeroCities (NZC).

The cities shown in the report are at various phases of their journeys toward climate neutrality and have a wide range of population densities. The NZC team examined the factors that would motivate a city to pursue climate neutrality (drivers), the obstacles in the way (barriers), and the elements that make up an enabling environment through 10 focus group talks with city leaders (needs) – UVARs were naturally part of the discussion.

The division of duties within municipal administration and the lack of proper coordination between administrative levels were two of the biggest obstacles that cities highlighted. Cities emphasised the need for a new governance model, a systemic approach, and reciprocal obligations at the EU, national, and regional levels.

The Climate City Contract is one of the most intriguing governance tools created in recent years, according to the towns consulted. It is a long-term commitment that guarantees collaboration between cities and other governmental levels, as well as a tool for the cities.

Cities emphasised the disparity between strategy formulation and practical implementation, expressing the need to scale up current programmes and initiatives and switch from a project-to-portfolio approach. Cities cited a shortage of human resources as well as the prevalence of cultural barriers as major problems. Lack of understanding about a solution frequently stops people from changing “business as usual” instead of motivating them to look into new possibilities.

Cities are conscious of the importance of involving local populations in achieving climate neutrality in the areas of culture, social innovation, and participation. The existence of opposition and anxiety from communities to modify business as usual behaviour – just think of pedestrain zones in city centres! -, the effort to effectively involve more vulnerable groups, and the limited collaborations with the commercial sector were some of the major challenges noted by city authorities.

Tools, techniques, and best practises for engagement strategies might be helpful to cities. To win over residents and other stakeholders, they also need to understand how to demonstrate the socioeconomic costs of inaction.

Cities acknowledged that one of the biggest obstacles to finance and business models was a lack of money and financing options. High initial investment costs, governance and regulatory obstacles, as well as a lack of knowledge and experience in climate financing and investments, are all contributing reasons to this barrier.

Therefore, cities require a standardised framework to evaluate funding choices and various financing methods.

Cities expressed a desire to share resources, techniques, experiences, and best practises with other cities and learn from them. Peer evaluations, instruction from outside experts, and demonstration of tools and approaches utilised effectively by other cities were all cited as beneficial features.

Finally, cities acknowledged the need for frameworks to assess policies after implementation by measuring progress, outcomes, and impacts.

    The UVAR Box Tool is now available!

    The UVAR Box Tool is now available – and we could not be any happier!

    The tool makes it easier for cities, regions and ministries to digitise UVARs and enable them to be put into navigation tools. Available for free for all cities, it comes together with a video and manual to support its use.

    More and more navigation service providers are asking cities for data: this tool enables cities to give the data all at once and in a single format, rather than several times and in different formats. The UVAR Box Tool makes this process easy, with support for cities and regions from Country Coaches.

    Moreover, one can only assume that if the Urban Vehicle Access Regulation is integrated in the navigation tools that drivers use, there will be higher compliance rates and fewer complaints.

    Head out to the UVAR Box Tool dedicated page available at https://uvarbox.eu/uvarbox-tool/.

    This information page allows cities to access all information about the UVAR Box digitisation tool, as well as the user manual and jointed step-by-step video that explains the main features of the Tool.

    UVAR Box is currently creating an efficient structure for the account creation.

    Anyone can submit the UVAR data through the tool, but only three different types of data can be submitted:

    • Fully digitised UVAR data
    • Manually create UVAR
    • Manually added UVAR through the map feature
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      Cologne to establish Mobility Council to support SUMP development

      The German city of Cologne is about to start developing its Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). In order to support the process, the city’s Traffic Committee has decided to establish a Mobility Council.

      The Mobility Council will effectively be an expert panel, which will bring together members of the public administration, contracted external experts, political decision makers and stakeholders. The stakeholders will be drawn from a range of interest groups, including those focusing on regional cooperation, young people, seniors, those with mobility impairments, transport service providers and transport associations, as well as experts from economics and different scientific disciplines.

      The main mission of the Mobility Council will be to provide professional support and quality assurance to the SUMP development process. It will also enable an exchange of ideas and a discussion of the concept and technical details of the plan between political decision makers, members of the administration, stakeholders and experts from diverse interest groups.

      The development process of Cologne’s SUMP is scheduled to start in the autumn of 2022. The SUMP will be an important element of Cologne’s efforts to achieve climate neutrality in its transport system in the medium- to long-term.

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      Brussels park and ride car parks to become free of charge

      From 5 September 2022, the use of park and ride car parks (P+R) in the Belgian capital Brussels will be free for commuters. In addition, the subscription costs for Cycloparking, a network of secure parking places for bicycles throughout the Brussels’ agglomeration, will be reduced by 75%. The aim of both initiatives is to encourage commuters not to drive into the city.

      The price decreases announced by the Brussels Parking Agency (Parking.Brussels) put into action the decision of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region of 16 December 2021 to adjust prices in an effort to promote the use of the P+R and to persuade commuters to leave their cars on the edge of the city and use public transport to complete their journey into the city centre.

      The decision fits well with the city’s new Climate, Air and Energy Plan, in which the government promised to accelerate the implementation of Good Move, Brussels mobility plan.

      Brussels Minister of Mobility, Elke Van den Brandt, explains: “By making the P+R free, we want to encourage our commuters and visitors to Brussels to park at the entrance of the city and use our efficient public transport. In addition, the new rates for bicycle parking will ensure that more Brussels residents and visitors can choose to cycle. It is two more steps forward that will make our Region more accessible and attractive to its visitors and make life more pleasant for its inhabitants.”

      Currently, there are seven P+R scattered across the southern and eastern edges of the Brussels-Capital Region. Some of these can already be used for free, while others offer parking subscriptions for commuters, as well as parking spaces for occasional users. Currently, subscribers pay an annual fee of €60 and €1.50 per day of use, while occasional users pay €3 per day.

      The level of use of the P+R is varied. Whilst, for example, the P+Rs in Stalle (which was already free) and Kraainem (which had to be paid for) have high occupancy rates to the extent that their expansion is being considered, the €16 million P+R in Coovi, which opened in 2019, has never reached an occupancy above 20%.

      From 5 September onwards, all of these P+R will be free to commuters, although a subscription (which is also free) will still be required. Occasional visitors will be able to use the P+R for free if they use public transport onwards into the city. In such cases, they will need to scan their public transport ticket in the car park before leaving. Users of the P+R and cyclists who bought a subscription between the announcement of the new tariffs (1 August) and their entry into action will be able to apply for compensation through Parking.Brussels.

      Podcast “Project EfficienCE – How data takes over transport planning”

      The long-term cooperation project EfficienCE ended on 10 June 2022 with a Final conference in Leipzig, bringing together a total of 30 representatives of the project partners from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovenia to exchange knowledge about sustainable public transport and to introduce the implemented pilot projects.

      The project was funded with almost 2 million EUR as part of the Interreg Central Europe programme. In Leipzig, use cases for more energy-efficient public transport planning were developed as part of the EfficienCE project by the Digital City department, the Office for Geoinformation and Land Use Planning and the Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (LVB).

      For this purpose, data from the on-board computers of trams, energy data from Raspberry Pi sensors, municipal data on traffic area design as well as stop areas, crossing areas and external information from the German Weather Service (temperature, precipitation, wind etc) were combined to improve data-based public transport planning.

      By combining the different data sources, it becomes possible for the first time to collect continuous information on the interaction between the tram and the urban space to create added value for predictive maintenance, energy optimisation of the driving style, detection of interactions with individual traffic or optimised traffic space design.

      Charlie Liebscher, Geo-Data Manager at the Office for Geoinformation and Land Use Planning of the City of Leipzig, and Conrad Jentzsch address this topic in the podcast episode “Urban Data in Networked Cities and Regions” and discuss how transport planning can be designed more effectively while protecting the environment and advancing digitalisation.

      You can find out more about the project results and experiences from the city of Leipzig and the Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe in the podcast here.

      The original article was published on the Interreg EfficienCE website on 25 June here.

      Talking UVARs: Bonnie Fenton gets interviewed by EU Research magazine

      Bonnie Fenton, ReVeAL’s Coordinator, talked about our project and using UVARs to improve the overall quality of life within cities in an article with EU Research, a publication dedicated to research and innovation.

      Dissemination of scientific research occupies a central place in our project – and so does the involvement of academic institutions. Such focus puts us in a place where it is easy for us to align ourselves with other actors to further deliver our message of liveability – one that sees UVARs as an instrument apt to revolutionise the urban way of life for the better.

      This is the reason that brought EU Reseach and us together: EU Research has extensive experience of working with EU-funded projects and believes that publicising scientific research is the key to capitalising on its long-term potential, whether that be commercial development or facilitating further academic collaborations and future implementations.

      Our article Strategies to Lower Emissions and Improve Liveability in Urban Areas, a compelling interview with Rupprecht’s Bonnie Fenton, hopes to break down the world of UVAR and pique everyone’s interest in view of the last chapters of our project, ending this coming November.

      The Summer ’22 EU Research online magazine ‘The Necessity of Science in Uncertain Times’ explores other topics, such as covid complacency, the war in Ukraine and its impact on science and research, the Brexit effect on the UK and Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, as well as the future of European research.

      Opening ceremony of smart fast charging stations in Maribor

      The Municipality of Maribor has purchased two electric buses and two smart fast charging stations The electric buses will operate on line 6 where four buses are transporting around 400,000 passengers yearly.

      The Municipality of Maribor has set up smart fast charging stations for electric buses at the cable car Vzpenjača and at the main bus station. These are the first fast charging stations in Slovenia. The value of the charging stations and construction works is 289,882 EUR, of which around 100,000 EUR is co-financed by the European project EfficienCE.

      The measurements were carried out by the University of Maribor (the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Architecture). The University of Maribor also prepared all technical data for the project, reviewed examples of good practices in Europe, advised on the choice of fast charging concept, developed a strategy for multi-purpose charging infrastructure, based on electrification of urban public passenger transport, and prepared a methodology for selecting priority bus lines for electrification.

      The charging stations will charge two 100% IVECO E-WAY electric buses, which are 12 metres long, in five minutes. The purchase of buses totalled around 1 million EUR, and was co-financed by the Slovenian Environmental Public Fund (Eco Fund) (600,000 EUR).

      The original article was published here on 15 June on the Interreg EfficienCE website.

      The EfficienCE project held its last two webinars

      Webinar on Storage Solutions

      On 28 June 2022 partners presented their results on storage solutions to increase energy-efficiency in the public transport (PT) network. Energy storage solutions enable the use of renewable energy sources and increase energy efficiency in PT operations. Experts within the EfficienCE project shared their experiences based on their pilots and threw light on innovations and strategies that support increasing the energy efficiency. Our moderator Gabriele Grea, from Redmint Impresa Sociale, led participants through an interesting webinar with:

      • a presentation by Jirka Kohout from PMDP (Pilsen Municipal Transport Company) about their experiences with a buffer storage station;
      • a presentation by Mitja Klemenčič of the action plan 2025 on multipurpose hubs including energy storage solutions of the Municipality of Maribor;
      • a presentation by Aleksander Jakubowski of the Gdynia partner PKT’s (trolleybus operator in Gdynia) experiences with super capacitor solutions and storing recuperated braking energy in second-life batteries.

      To conclude the webinar, Gabriele introduced the EfficienCE handbook on storage solutions, where all the partner’s experiences are put together to formulate guidelines and recommendations to plan storage solutions for future energy efficient public transport networks.

      If you missed it, make sure to watch the recording here.

      Webinar on Energy Management

      On 29 June 2022 in our transnational webinar on energy management we invited participants to learn from our experiences in developing and testing innovative solutions in the energy management in an electrified PT network including trams, e-buses and trolley buses – required for energy-efficient PT operations. Participants were led through the webinar by our moderator Ana-Maria Baston from Rupprecht Consult, and got a first introduction to the topic by Eberhard Nickel from Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (LVB). He explained Leipzig transportation operator’s experiences with energy management solutions and how they put together the EfficienCE handbook for energy-managers in public transport out of their and other partner’s experiences. Next up Marcin Wolek from Gdynia presented their experiences with the innovative energy management in the trolley bus depot of Gdynia, followed by Jakob Sabitzer from the newly introduced energy-management department at Wiener Linien public transport company in Vienna, who gave an overview of their organisational and strategic involvement. To conclude, Dr. Jan Přikryl from Prague gave an interesting presentation on the simulation of electric vehicles and power grid.

      If you missed it, you can watch the recording here.

      The original article was published here on the Interreg EfficienCE website on 29 June.

      Hungarian translation of the SUMP Topic Guide for Smaller Cities and Towns now available

      Sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) is a strategic and integrated approach to dealing with the complexity of urban transport. Across Europe, local authorities and their private operating partners are striving to create sustainable solutions for passenger transport and freight that foster accessible, safe and affordable mobility, while aligning with European Green Deal emissions reduction objectives.

      As part of the SUMPs-Up project, funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020, Rupprecht Consult compiled a Topic Guide, “Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning in Smaller Cities and Towns”. This guide applies the SUMP Guidelines to the planning realities of smaller cities and towns. It aims to support cities with a population of less than 100,000 that are much less likely to develop Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans than their larger counterparts and are also underrepresented in good practice databases and the community of experts. This indicates that they face specific challenges and need a dedicated guidance document for this target group.

      This Topic Guide has now been translated into Hungarian and published by Magyar CIVINET, the Hungarian-speaking regional CIVITAS Network, financed by the CIVINET Activity Fund under CIVITAS ELEVATE. By translating the Topic Guide, Magyar CIVINET aims to support cities in developing more and better SUMPs.

      Smaller cities and towns often have fewer resources and expertise for strategic mobility planning, making it more difficult to develop SUMPs. They also tend to have a stronger car dependency and weaker public transport, which can make it feel even more daunting to pursue a sustainable vision. On the other hand, smaller cities and towns often have well-connected social communities and more walkable and bikeable distances, offering ideal opportunities for sustainable mobility.

      Based on an analysis of their specific challenges and opportunities, this guide provides smaller cities and towns with planning methods, tools and policies that have proven to work well in smaller urban areas. It also includes a variety of good practice examples from all over Europe, highlighting the benefits of SUMP for some of the most common problems in smaller cities and towns.

      Read the original publication here. This and other SUMP Topic Guides can be accessed via the Eltis website here.