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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.

The Greek capital, Athens, recently achieved a landmark, as it now has a metro station, Monastiraki, that is fully accessible for people with reduced mobility (PRMs). The work was undertaken on the initiative of the Superfund and Athens Transport and involved the participation of passengers with reduced mobility, which was key for the evaluation and implementation of the project.

In particular, a survey was distributed to PRMs to identify the obstacles that they face in their journeys and to allow them to suggest the best design of the products and services that an accessible metro station should have. The results emerging from the survey and from wider research enabled the realisation of the accessible Monastiraki metro station in Athens’ city centre.

The project was part of the initiative “TOGETHER EVERYWHERE we become accessible”, under which the following actions have been planned:

• Training and information: The provision of training for bus drivers and staff in metro stations, and the creation of accessible communication tools, which indicate the location of all metro lifts on Google Maps, to facilitate PRMs’ access to metro stations.
• Infrastructure: The completion of 2 accessible metro stations (Kallithea and Monastiraki), which includes an accessibility assessment by PRMs and the recording of detailed suggestions for improvement. In addition, 20 soft infrastructure measures will be implemented to improve the accessibility of public transport, along with a monitoring mechanism to report and verify progress, as well as the installation of 409 ramps at bus stops.
• Monitoring of results & governance: The creation of an Accessibility Index as the main KPI to monitor the effectiveness of these actions, measuring the increase in the use of public transport by PRMs.
• Help Desk: With the support of PRMs, a helpdesk will be set up to improve the accessibility of communication materials.

The project will improve the accessibility of public transport infrastructure and improve passengers’ travel experience, thus facilitating PRMs’ daily life, making their journeys on public transport easier, and more attractive. The project works on the basis that accessibility to public transport for PRMs is a fundamental right. The initiative is fundamental to providing such rights, which other users already have, and is a sign of the transition towards a more inclusive society that embraces everyone.

The participatory approach showed the success of involving users in an urban planning project and demonstrated how their involvement can bring extensive benefits to all when urban public transport facilities are co-shaped, co-created, and co-decided by the entire local community.

The Interreg PAV (Planning for autonomous vehicles) project has just released the European CCAM Outlook 2023 report, offering a comprehensive overview of CCAM for public transport in Europe.

This report delves into the intricate interplay between technological advancements, regulatory frameworks, societal impact, and market dynamics, all of which shape the deployment of connected, cooperative, automated vehicles (CCAVs).

The report covers:

Access the full report on the PAV website and benefit from the expertise of the international thought leaders.

This article was originally published on CCAM. The original blog post can be found here.

In April 2023, the City of Sofia announced the launch of a new on-demand bus service for the more remote neighbourhoods of the Bulgarian capital. Low emission buses will take residents from large transit hubs to their residential areas, offering them a more affordable and sustainable solution to their last-mile trips.

Buses will operate in the neighbourhoods of Manastirski Livadi East and West, as well as Pavlovo, from Monday to Friday, between 6:07 to 22:40, with a frequency of 16 to 18 minutes during peak hours. During the night, residents will be able to book a ride through an app, called BusInn, and meet the bus in designated pick-up points. The city will implement 6 electric vehicle charging stations and a total fleet of 5 buses serving the neighbourhoods at pre-identified stops.

The provision of the new on-demand bus service aims to make public transport more attractive by offering more and better connections to residents who live farther from the city centre and where frequent, timetabled public transport services do not make much sense. Giving residents, who are reluctant to move away from cars, more attractive options encourages them to switch to more sustainable transport modes, such as public transport.

The measure will also help Sofia improve its air quality, as the city is one of the most polluted in Europe. The city is now investing in a range of actions to improve air quality, which also focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Another relevant project is INNOAIR, funded through the European Urban Innovative Actions initiative, within which it is planned to implement a low emission zone (LEZ).

EIT Urban Mobility, a leading organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable mobility in urban spaces, has unveiled its ambitious plans for the 2023-2025 Innovation Programme. With a strong focus on accelerating change towards a sustainable mobility model and combatting climate change, EIT Urban Mobility aims to support innovators in developing commercially viable solutions that enhance the quality of life in cities while creating job opportunities and strengthening the European mobility sector.

Since its inception in 2020, EIT Urban Mobility has been actively fostering collaboration and agility in mobility projects across Europe. By partnering with city administrations, research organisations, and businesses, the organisation aims to build a robust urban mobility ecosystem. Now, with the launch of the 2024 Call from their Innovation Programme for 2023-25, EIT Urban Mobility is seeking proposals in three key challenge areas:

• Sustainable City Logistics,
• Energy and Mobility, and
• Future Mobility.

The primary goal is to address pressing issues faced by public, private, and hybrid mass transit providers while promoting innovation in the urban mobility domain.

Importantly, this Call aligns with the objectives of the Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, an initiative that urges cities to accelerate their digital, energy, and mobility transformations in order to achieve net-zero emissions. EIT Urban Mobility supports the mission’s aim of experimenting with urban mobility solutions for a sustainable future. In addition, the organisation actively collaborates with the European Technology Platform – ALICE in relation to the Sustainable City Logistics challenge area, emphasising its commitment to addressing logistics-related challenges and achieving sustainable urban freight solutions.

The Innovation Programme seeks projects that are close to market readiness and capable of testing new solutions through real-life city demonstrations. By the end of the project, these initiatives should demonstrate commercial viability, making a tangible impact on improving citizens’ lives. EIT Urban Mobility’s Business Plan for 2023-2025 outlines nine Challenge Areas that have been identified based on over 250 urban mobility challenges raised by cities across Europe.

In the current call, three areas—Sustainable City Logistics, Mobility & Energy, and Future Mobility—are prioritised, inviting the participation of public, private, and hybrid mass transit providers to drive pan-European innovation and enhance transport services and operations.

In line with the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, EIT Urban Mobility encourages applications from the 112 cities committed to achieving net-zero climate neutrality by 2030. Recognising that the transport and mobility sector plays a pivotal role in cities’ efforts to reach climate neutrality, the organisation actively supports cities in fulfilling their commitments and action plans outlined in their Climate City Contracts. By fostering a cross-sectoral and demand-led approach, EIT Urban Mobility aims to facilitate the transformation of cities into sustainable, climate-neutral hubs.

With the announcement of this new call for proposals, EIT Urban Mobility is eager to expand its partnership network and portfolio of entrepreneurial innovation projects. By harnessing the collective expertise and creative potential of innovators, businesses, and city administrations, the organisation envisions a future where sustainable mobility solutions become the norm, contributing to the well-being of citizens, environmental preservation, and economic growth.

Interested parties are encouraged to visit the EIT Urban Mobility website for more information on the 2024 Call and how to submit proposals. The deadline for submission is [insert deadline date]. Together, let us pave the way for a sustainable and inclusive urban mobility revolution.

Interested? Do you have queries?

• For legal, financial and administrative procedures, including questions about PLAZA submission tool: pmo@eiturbanmobility.eu (Programme Management Office (PMO))
• For content, topic-related related questions: innovationcall2024@eiturbanmobility.eu (Innovation Team)

You can also watch all of the recorded webinars that covered the Call’s topics, difficulties, and requirements as well as general procedures including the submission and review process and the PLAZA submission platform. These webinars were held from April 17 through April 20, 2023.

• General info session
• Meet the cities
• Sustainable City Logistics
• Mobility & Energy
• Future Mobility
• Commercialisation and Financial Sustainability
• Guidance to applicants
• Proposal writing

You can find a summary of the above webinars at the end of the call webpage.

You can submit your proposal through the PLAZA Platform until 7 June 2023 at 17:00 CET.

This article was originally published on CCAM. The original blog post can be found here.

The EU’s Climate, Innovation and Environment Executive Agency, CINEA, has released a brochure presenting a comprehensive overview of the Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) projects that it currently manages. These projects are those funded under the first two calls (2021 and 2022) of respective part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation.

New mobility trends and technologies are driving radical change in our transport systems. This change will have a profound impact on the environment, transport users and businesses. Automated transport is a crucial element in this transformation. It has the potential to reduce road fatalities to near zero, improve accessibility of mobility services and reduce harmful emissions from transport by making traffic more efficient.

The EU is investing substantial financial resources to achieve an intelligent transport network, integrating information and communication technologies with transport infrastructure, vehicles and users. While this creates huge opportunities, it also comes with challenges, such as ensuring that the automation of transport happens in a connected, cooperative and safe way.

CINEA is responsible for the implementation of a growing number of EU projects that develop, test and exploit innovative solutions funded under the EU’s research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe. The EU is contributing around €500 million to support the development and take-up of highly automated and connected driving systems through the programme.

This brochure provides a comprehensive overview of the CCAM projects that are receiving EU funding following their selection under the first two calls of the Horizon Europe programme, so those from 2021 and 2022. The projects cover a range of domains, from data ecosystems to infrastructure support, validation methodologies to environmental aspects, and more.

The Portuguese capital, Lisbon, is trialling restrictions on through traffic for three months, during which motorised vehicles will be banned in the inner city. The trial started at the end of April 2023. During the summer, the local authorities will take advantage of the lower traffic levels to undertake major infrastructural works, including the implementation of two new metro stations. Even though it is not yet clear whether the ban will be permanent or temporary, in the short-term, the restrictions are expected to contribute to behavioural changes among people, and encourage them to make more use of sustainable mobility options.

The restrictions have been implemented using three categories of zone. A “red-zone” has been implemented in the city centre in which through traffic is completely banned to motorised vehicles. In this area, which includes the roads on the riverside and Avenida 24 de Julho, between Avenida Infante Santo and Avenida Mouzinho de Albuquerque, only residents or people working in the area will be allowed to circulate.

Just outside of the red zone, in the wider “yellow area”, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) can only circulate at night between 8 pm-8 am. Restrictions for HGVs might be extended beyond the summer, although these restrictions do not apply to public transport. In a third area, the “green zone”, traffic that has been diverted from the red and yellow areas will be allowed to circulate. This is a sort of “5th Ring Road”, which will enable vehicles to cross the city avoiding its city centre.

In addition to the construction of the two new metro stations, at the same time the city council of Lisbon plans to implement a Drainage Plan – aimed at reducing floods in the city – as well to re-pave urban roads.