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Cities and regions are on the frontline of climate action. Estimates from the UN suggest that cities are responsible for 75% of global CO2 emissions, with urban mobility being among the largest contributors, responsible for almost one-quarter of the European Union’s greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector.

However, reducing CO2 emissions is not the only challenge facing urban mobility. Congestion is costly to local businesses and negatively impacts liveability, road safety remains a critical concern, and existing fuel sources present genuine security and health threats.

On 8 June, POLIS teamed up with the City of Stockholm (the first city to develop its climate-neutral city contract) to a Leadership Summit. Local leaders from cities and regions across Europe joined leaders from the industry, NGOs, operators, new mobility providers, think tanks and international policymakers for a frank, honest and collaborative exchange on sustainable urban mobility and the multiple challenges to be tackled.

In attendance were international organisations, including the OECD and the European Commission, major sector representatives like the European Cyclists Federation, Cycling Industries, and Walk21, industry leaders including Google, and start-ups like Streetscape and ClimateView who are shaking up the transport sector.

Cities and regions are where some of the most important and transformative changes in transport are occurring. Indeed, following the lack of progress at recent major international climate summits, local leaders are pioneering steps towards more sustainable mobility. From Groningen to Glasgow, Lisbon to Ljubljana, transport decision-makers are reconfiguring and redefining mobility. These are cities that are almost unrecognisable from just a few years ago and substantial actions like Low Emissions Zones, school streets, public transport expansion and active travel infrastructure are accelerating.

“Stockholm aims to be climate positive by 2030 and a key aspect of this ambition is innovative mobility initiatives, making it easier for everyone to fulfil their transportation needs in a sustainable way. Stockholm was therefore proud to host this important Summit,” said Lars Strömgren, Vice Mayor of Transport, City of Stockholm

The Summit hosted discussions on the critical actions which need to be taken and the opportunities for progress, examining upscaling electromobility, overcoming car dependence and ensuring a just transition.

The last few years have seen unparalleled advance in electrification. The array of electric private passenger vehicles, bus fleets, bikes, as well as charging solutions, was almost unimaginable even a decade ago. While electrification is instrumental in decarbonisation agendas, a clear and honest conversation about its role in the future of urban mobility is critical in understanding the potential, the gaps and the limits.

Electrification is only one piece of the puzzle. A cleaner and smarter city is one where the car is no longer king. Currently, in many European cities, way over half of ground transport space is dedicated to cars. As Stockholm’s own mobility strategy articulates, it is about moving towards a city with cars – not a city for cars.

There appears to be no shortage of arguments for dethroning the private car- cleaner air, safer roads, more public space; however, implementing the policy and infrastructural changes required are taking time, time we do not have.

This is not to overlook the changes which are being pioneered; nonetheless, these shifts are proving a thorny issue for many local leaders, who, without the support of residents, local businesses and national leaders, cannot move at the pace required.

The Summit also examined the importance of renewed focus on a just transition, ensuring sustainability agendas consider the spectrum of user needs. From education to employment to healthcare, transport facilitates and impedes access to vital services and opportunities. Yet, traditional mobility systems reflect, replicate and aggravate existing social and economic inequalities.

The Summit was a chance for public and private sector collaboration, creating and renewing ties across the sector, and high-level decision-makers discussed how they can pull together in the same direction to accelerate the shift to sustainable urban mobility.

Indeed, it is only through such cooperation that sustainable urban mobility agendas will move from ambition to action. Responsibility is not squarely on the shoulders of cities and regions; the whole mobility sector will have a role to play in advancing the transport transition.

The Summit was a call to the entire sector to act faster, and more courageously. Dialogue is important, but time is not on our side, and actions speak louder than words.

This article originally appeared on POLIS Network

Image credit: Angelica Zander

Region: Europe-wide

The Copenhagen Pride parade, which takes place on 19 August, has announced that it will only be using electric trucks (EVs) for its floats. This makes it the first Pride event in the world to use only EVs in the parade, many of which will be provided by the logistics company DFDS Group and Volvo Trucks.

The Copenhagen Pride event will therefore be bringing social and environmental celebrations together, raising the issue of LGBTQ equal rights and celebrating sexual and love diversity, while at the same time decarbonising its pride parade. The commitment to use EVs is a step towards fulfilling a three-year goal, agreed upon last autumn, to make the festival more environmentally friendly.

According the Lars Henriksen, the political chairperson of Copenhagen Pride, as quoted in the CPH Post, ‘the parade is using 100% EVs to be more sustainable and green as the climate crisis also affects LGBTQ communities.’

According to the DFDS Group, which is supplying 30 vehicles for the parade, an electric truck saves on average 52.3 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. The Volvo Trucks will all have zero emissions and be equipped with sound systems, toilets and DJs powered by the electric truck battery.

The vision of TARGET-X is to strengthen important economic sectors in Europe by integrating 5G and 6G, accelerating the digital transformation in the Manufacturing, Energy, Automotive and Construction verticals. Below the list of Automotive Challenges addressed in this 1st open call.

The TARGET-X project is looking for an individual entity (SME) or micro-consortium composed of 2 SMEs, registered prior to the launch of the TARGET-X 1st Open Call.

You can submit your application for your activity addressing performance testing or the development of devices or solutions, use cases, KPIs and KVIs applicable to one topic and receive up to €60,000. The call will be open until 26 July 2023.

List of Automotive Challenges:

• Performance comparison between Edge- and public-Internet-deployed services
• Environment-aware teleoperated driving
• Automated Valet Parking (Type 2)
• Remote supervision for Autonomous Driving
• Infrastructure-mounted sensors for automated buses
• API deployment to abstract connectivity and data collection process for automotive applications
• Car, road, and edge processing time synchronization for V2X digital twins
• Methods of satisfying UL/DL tend use-cases with a fixed TDD configuration
• Connected Ambulance
• Vehicle platooning
• Digital twins’ generation methodology for road safety
• Cooperative perception for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs): Preventive Collision Warning
• Cooperative perception for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs): Cooperative Sensing (I)
• Dynamic Operational Design Domain (ODD) according to network conditions

The Clean Bus Europe Platform (CBEP) was an initiative under the European Commission’s Clean Bus Deployment Initiative that aimed to support the deployment of clean bus technologies across Europe.

The Platform brought together European cities, transport authorities and operators, together with relevant stakeholders like social dialogue partners, industry, financing and funding institutions, associations, etc. to boost and support the exchange of knowledge and expertise on clean bus deployment. 

After four years, the CBEP held its Final Event at the UITP Summit in Barcelona. The CBEP has facilitated exchange of knowledge between cities that are well progressed with clean bus deployment (Host Cities), and those who are yet to take the plunge (Target Cities).

Going beyond the Target Cities, the Platform has been a true reference point for the sector on clean bus activities, also through a valuable media collaboration with Sustainable Bus magazine.

“The CBEP has played a key role in boosting the uptake of clean buses all across Europe,” says Aida Abdulah, Head of the Mobility Enablers Unit at UITP. “We have given cities who are looking to make their fleets more sustainable the contacts and tools to make that happen. I’d like to think of the Platform as a strong launch of a European partnership that will continue for many years to come.”

A report has been published on TRIMIS by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in May that provides the latest assessment of innovation capacity in the EU transport sector. TRIMIS provides periodical assessments of transport innovation capacity through macro-level indicator analysis at EU level.

The report analyses research and development (R&I) indicators and presents an updated review of overall transport innovation capacity, including private and public investment in R&I, the number of transport researchers and R&I personnel, patents and capacity bottlenecks. It offers a general view on the transport sector innovation engagement, supporting the reflection on main sector’s trends and possible research and policy measure to support its enhancement.

In May 2017, the European Commission adopted the Strategic Transport Research and Innovation Agenda (STRIA) as part of the ‘Europe on the Move’ package, which highlights key transport R&I areas and priorities for clean, connected and competitive mobility. The role played by R&I is central to achieving a more sustainable transport system as part of the European Green Deal, which aims to reduce emissions by 90% by 2050.

Some of the main conclusions identified by the analysis include:

• The private sector maintains its key role in R&I activities in the transport sector, which in 2019 amounted to €38 billion. Total EU public investment was substantially lower, at €2.4 billion in 2020, a 25% fall from 2010.
• In 2019, 250,000 researchers and R&I personnel worked in the transport sector, or 1.8% of total people employed, with males resenting 87.4%.
• The total number of EU patents granted to the transport sector between 2010 and 2020 was approximately 71,400.
• The type of innovation introduced by transport companies was mainly associated with process and product innovations. A main barrier suggested to increasing R&I was insufficient financial support at local, national and EU level.
• A lack of market cooperation among transport stakeholders and qualified and skilled personnel, as well as uncertain market trends are also considered major barriers.

The conclusions of the report suggest a general negative trend in the innovation capacity of the transport sector in the EU, compared to the previous years.

To read the full report, click here.

A new report from Sustainable Urban Mobility for All (SuM4All) Gender Working Group exposes the transport sector’s significant gender imbalance and provides a comprehensive toolkit for creating targeted action on the ground. 

Worldwide, the transport sector is facing a significant gender imbalance. According to the International Labour Organization’s latest figures, women make up just 16.8% working in transport globally. This differs immensely regionally, with 29% in North America, 5.5% in Arab States, 10% in Africa and 12.2% in Asia and the Pacific-nonetheless, the lack of women (particularly in STEM-related roles) is visible across the entire sector.

Transport now faces an important moment for action. Digitalisation and automation are transforming working practices, an accelerating climate emergency prompts the urgency for more sustainable practices, and skills and labour shortages persist. Confronted with this complex medley of challenges, the need to recruit and retain women in the sector can no longer be ignored.

There is growing recognition of the need not simply to shift, but transform this imbalance, with repeated calls for action from transport organisations across the globe. However, the last decade has seen neither the scale nor speed of progress required, and there has been little significant improvement in the situation on the ground.

So how do we shift from ambition to action, creating tangible change?

The ‘Gender balance in the transport sector: A toolkit for change”, developed by POLIS for the Sustainable Urban Mobility for All Gender Working Group, with funding from the FIA Foundation, seeks to address this.

“As this study reveals, these inclusive transport services cannot be delivered without a more diverse workforce. We need to be able to reflect and represent who we seek to serve, and at present, the transport workforce is far from achieving this much-needed diversity. The lack of gender diversity in particular is apparent. While we have seen a growing recognition of the necessity for change, displayed vividly in this study, translating words into action has been far slower,” says Karen Vancluysen, POLIS’ Secretary General.

Informed by extensive primary and secondary research conducted over a year, the toolkit surveys the current state of the transport workforce, and the key changes we have witnessed across the last decade and identifies the key barriers which are obstructing progress.

The report, launched at the ITF Summit in Leipzig, is the most up-to-date and extensive research on gendered employment practices in the transport sector so far. It provides in-depth case studies on how actions can be initiated, the technologies on hand to assist, partnerships which can be created, and other key information for practitioners seeking hands-on solutions.

The research unveiled that despite progress in global and national policy arenas, women working across the transport sector continue to face multiple impediments to entering, remaining, and advancing their careers. While there are regional and modal variations, the toolkit identifies 5 key barriers to women’s ability to enter and flourish in the transport sector and 5 entry points for action.

Gendered stereotyping, discriminatory and unsafe workplace cultures, lack of flexible working and childcare provisions and ‘invisible’ glass ceilings are constraining progress towards a more gender-balanced workforce, with detrimental impacts on those women already working there.

Although international and national equal opportunities and anti-discrimination policy frameworks lay the foundations for change, decision-makers in the transport sector cannot rely solely on these to generate the transformative shifts necessary at the rate required.

Targeted, effective action demands positive action at the organisational level, and there are many out there, which have proved incredibly successful; from innovative approaches to flexible working, new ways of collecting employee satisfaction data, partnerships between universities and operators, and platforms for addressing gender bias in recruitment.

“While this study is a stark reminder of the immense progress still to be made, it also demonstrates that we do not need to reinvent the wheel. If we are to fulfil gender equality, and indeed, climate pledges, the time is not ours to fitter away. The tools, processes, and partnerships outlined in the toolkit provide a huge resource for those seeking to act fast to push beyond ambition and toward systemic action,” says Vancluysen.

Read the full report HERE.

As with many European cities, the Polish City of Krakow has seen a rapid growth in the use of e-scooters, the majority of which are supplied by commercial shared mobility operators. In common with many cities, it has been facing the growing problem of e-scooters that have been poorly parked or abandoned throughout the city. E-scooters scattered across pavements, in front of the entrances of buildings, in parks and green spaces and even dumped into the Vistula River, have become a nuisance for many in the city. As a result, the city’s authorities have put forward new measures to regulate the parking of e-scooters.

The city’s authorities informed the city’s three commercial operators of shared e-scooters about its plans in May. “We informed the representatives of three companies about the end of the period of free use of the city space. We also proposed the introduction of a municipal patrol, which would be financed by operators from fines for improperly parked scooters, as well as fees for using areas belonging to the municipality”, said the deputy mayor of Krakow, Andrzej Kulig. “The current state of Krakow is unsustainable (..) Despite existing arrangements with equipment operators, the problem of abandoned devices has been steadily growing, mainly due to the lack of legal regulations”, explained Kulig.

In 2020, Krakow’s Public Transport Authority and e-scooter operators signed an agreement, which included, amongst others, the imposition of a speed limit for e-scooters in the city centre, and a no-parking zone consisting of the Old Town and parts of the Vistula Boulevards. Outside of these areas, e-scooters are to be parked in designated spaces, so called ‘mobility hubs’. These areas are created and designed by the City free of charge for the operators. The operators were made responsible for the removal of improperly parked e-scooters. The City has now informed operators that they will have to start paying for the use of the mobility hubs under a lease contract and that the companies will be fined for e-scooters that have to be removed from other parts of the city by patrol officers.

In the meantime, the commercial operators have agreed between themselves to limit the maximum number of e-scooters at mobility hubs in central areas. In practice, this means that users cannot return an e-scooter when the maximum capacity of the mobility hub is reached. They will have to leave their e-scooter at another mobility hub. The operators also asked the city to designate additional mobility points, possibly by introducing a new type of mobility point, where users could end and start the rental, but unlike the current mobility points, there would be no active deployment of e-scooters by the operators themselves. Also, the maximum number of e-scooters that would be allowed at these points would be significantly lower.

The City is hopeful that the new measures will end the nuisance caused by improperly parked e-scooters. If not, it will consider additional measures, which may even see the number of e-scooters restricted by regulation or even the termination of the contracts of the operators.

Original article published by Radio Eska.  

In May 2023, four European cities won the second edition of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) Awards. The four winners received their awards at ECF’s annual flagship conference, Velo-city, which took place in Leipzig, Germany.

The four winning cities in the four award categories were:

1. Helsingborg, Sweden – Cycling Infrastructure Award

Helsingborg’s stylish cycling and pedestrian Varvsbron Bridge signals the importance that the city places on active modes of transport in the city. The beautifully-designed bridge snakes its way over the city’s docks in a natural, meandering and gently sloping way, connecting up-and-coming neighbourhoods with the city centre and nearby public transport hubs, thereby encouraging people to walk or cycle into/out of the city centre.

2. The City of Essen, Germany – Cycle-Friendly Employer Award

The City of Essen won the Cycling Friendly Employer Award for its sponsorship of local organisations that promote cycling, as certified by the ECF. The city won a silver-level Cycle-Friendly Employer (CFE) certificate in 2019 and raised this to a gold-level certificate in 2022 for its efforts in sponsoring local cycle-friendly companies and organisations, as well as forming a cycle-friendly employers’ network of 18 CFE-certified companies in the city.

3. The City of Oslo, Norway – Road Safety Award

Over the last few years, Oslo has made impressive progress towards becoming one of the world’s safest cities for road users. The number of road users that considered the city safe for cycling was just 19% in 2014; in 2022, the number had risen to 31%! Significant adjustments have been made to the city’s streets, such as implementing a 30 km/h speed limit and removing over 700 on-street parking spaces within the city’s inner ring road. As a result, in 2019 Oslo became one of the first cities in Europe to achieve “Vision Zero”, with zero road deaths on its streets, and has some of the fewest cyclist fatalities per year in Europe.

4. City of Heidelberg, Germany – Cycling Improvement Award 

In 2022, the city reported a 17% increase in the number of cyclists on the city’s streets. The public bike-sharing service registered almost twice as many rentals, 325,165 compared to the previous year’s 166,465. Approximately 40% of the city’s residents now use bikes as their main mode of transport for trips within the city. Local authorities subsidise bike purchases and have an ambitious investment programme to create safe cycling connections between urban and rural areas, including improving rural-urban cycle paths and providing more bicycle parking. The city’s Mayor, Eckart Würzner, leads the transition by example, by providing cycling tours!

Article first published by Travel tomorrow on 12 May 2023.

A report released in May 2023 from Greenpeace ranked 30 European countries, and their respective capital cities, by the quality of their public transport ticket offerings. The report covered the EU27, plus Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The study used four criteria for its analysis: the simplicity of the ticketing system, the full price of long-term tickets, discounts for socially disadvantaged groups and the VAT rate on public transport tickets. The report weighed these criteria differently for the purpose of the national and city rankings.

The report puts Luxembourg at the top of the national ranking with a full score of 100 out of 100 points, followed by Malta, Austria and Germany. The three cities that topped the capital city ranking were Tallinn (EE), Luxembourg (LU) and Valletta (MT), followed by Prague (CZ), Bratislava (SK) and Madrid (ES).

The report emphasises that only 3 of the 30 countries offer relatively affordable tickets covering the entire county, these being Austria, Germany and Hungary. At the city level, public transport is free in Luxembourg, Tallinn and Valletta. Cheap monthly or annual tickets are available in Prague, Bratislava, Vienna (AT) and Rome (IT), although the latter is considering a price increase in 2023. Out of the 30 countries, 6 tax public transport tickets using the standard VAT rate, which is typically applied to a luxury good.

Greenpeace calls for the creation of a “European ticket”, modelled on the “Germany ticket”. The latter provides passengers with access to regional train and bus services, as well as local public transport services nationwide, at a cost of €49 per month. The report argues that the cost of the European ticket should be covered by ending the tax exemptions for international flights.

You can find the full report here.

How can we ensure that an increasing urban population does not translate into more traffic, congestion and pollution in European cities? Mobility management offers solutions to this issue. With its ‘soft approach’, mobility management is highly adaptable in promoting sustainable transport in different local circumstances.

With SUMPs and mobility management both seeking to achieve the same overall goal – namely the increased use of sustainable modes of transport – measures associated with mobility management form an essential part of any SUMP.

To support urban planners and transport practitioners in this process, a Topic Guide on Integrating Mobility Management for Public and Private Organisations into SUMPs has been developed by the third 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 SUMP Topic Guide proposes a selection of key recommendations and includes a variety of good practice examples from all over Europe, highlighting the benefits of better integrating mobility management for public and private organisations into SUMPs for the 5 following areas: urban development, public authorities, companies, the education sector, as well as the tourism and leisure sectors.

The Topic Guide is part of a compendium of EU guidance documents, complementing the revised second edition of the SUMP Guidelines.

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