News

Are you a public administration interested in reducing the environmental impact of your fleet?

The NOEMIX project, funded by the Horizon 2020 EU programme and coordinated by Area Science Park, aims at leading public administrations in the transition from pollutant vehicles to electric vehicles, navigating through regulations, costs and bumps in the road.

It does this through the provision of charging infrastructure, an online fleet management platform, and the installation of solar panels to compensate the energy consumption of the vehicles. If your administration is interested in engaging in this transition in line with the EU Green Deal objectives, you could be interested in participating in NOEMIX replication laboratories.

You will learn from their experience and replicate solutions, and the laboratories can be tailored according to specific needs.

If you wish to learn more on this opportunity do not hesitate to contact the project at noemix@areasciencepark.it.

Link: NOEMIX website

The government of Luxembourg has dedicated EUR 4.5 million to funding the construction of 672 additional charging points for electric cars, with 44 of these being fast chargers. In the first call for funding, 29 projects from 19 companies were selected to be undertaken.

“These results show that Luxembourg companies are ready to take up the challenge of electric mobility,” stated Energy Minister Claude Turmes. “Every new charging station installed on our territory contributes to improving the density of our charging point network, already one of the densest in Europe.” The Minister of Economy, Franz Fayot, commented that these 29 projects are in the scope of achieving the government’s objectives on the energy transition.

Of the 672 total charging points, 510 will be used by the companies themselves. It has not been announced so far whether the 44 fast charging points will be publicly accessible. Companies will be subsidised to cover up to 50% of the investment costs related to the construction of the fast-charging stations, with the funding aimed at small, medium and large companies. More funding is available for SMEs.

The next call for funding is scheduled to open in early 2023. More information can be found here.

During October, the European Commission approved an EU funding programme for EUR 2 billion of investments in urban transport in Poland. The planned investments are part of a wider investment programme, which will contribute to the modernisation of the Polish economy and improve the conditions for its sustainable development.

The funds are part of the ‘European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate and Environment (FEnIKS) 2021-2027′ programme. It is the EU’s largest cohesion policy programme which has been approved, providing EU funding of more than EUR 24.1 billion (EUR 12.9 billion from the European Regional Development Fund and EUR 11.2 billion from the Cohesion Fund).

According to the draft FENIKS programme which has been published by the Polish Ministry of Regional Development Funds and Policy, in the plan there are EUR 2 billion worth of investments included to implement urban transport priorities. It includes EUR 1.44 billion for infrastructure, EUR 460 million for rolling stock and EUR 100 million for digitisation.

Projects in the plan target:

• infrastructure and rolling stock of public collective transport (metro and trams);
• interchange nodes (including P&R car parks outside city centres);
• development of municipal ITS systems;
• improvement of public urban transport services and non-motorized (pedestrian and bicycle) traffic;
• development of IT solutions, including those enabling the implementation of the concept of “Mobility as a service”;
• Support for the acquisition of zero-emission (electric and hydrogen) buses and low-emission (gas LNG, CNG or LPG and hybrid PHEV) buses.

The funding is intended to continue to support voivodship cities and others, which were already eligible for support under the Integrated Territorial Investments (ITIs) instrument of Cohesion Policy 2014–2020. In order to obtain funding from the FEnIKS 2021-2027 programme for investments in the field of sustainable mobility, having a sustainable urban mobility plan (SUMP) or similar mobility plan is a condition. Therefore, the development of mobility plans is supported by the Infrastructure and Environment Program. Nine medium-sized cities and their functional areas have already received support the development of mobility plans under Measure 6.1 OPI & E Development of public collective transport in cities. The development of mobility plans is still supported by the Infrastructure and Environment Program.

Link: More information

EIT Climate-KIC and EIT Digital are running a Sustainable Cities Climate Impact Challenge for European cities to identify impactful and innovative projects which seek to decarbonise transport in cities and accelerate the take-up of active, shared, collective and/or electric mobility.  The challenge is sponsored by FedEx.

The Climate Impact Challenge aims to work with two or three cities. Projects will be selected based on the potential for impact, learning, and replicability in other cities.

Cities in EU Member States, Horizon Europe associated countries, the UK and Switzerland (with a population of at least 25,000) are eligible to apply. Each city challenge selected will be granted between USD 50,000 and USD 75,000.

Cities are invited to submit a two-page (A4) project proposal.

Examples of projects that could be considered for support include (but are not limited to), the following:

• Low traffic neighbourhoods
• Walking and cycling projects
• Green infrastructure and parklets
• Mobility hubs
• Behaviour change tools
• Apps and journey planners
• Data collection, analysis, monitoring and evaluation tools

The deadline for submission of proposals: 13 November 2022 at 23.00 CET.

For further information, please see here.

Photo Credit: © metamorworks / Shutterstock.com – no permission to re-use image(s) without separate licence from Shutterstock.

Region: Europe-wide

Women make up only around 20% of the transport workforce and an even lower proportion of its management. Closing this gap is a crucial step in meeting sustainable mobility ambitions while pursuing wider gender parity goals. A new project being undertaken by the SUM4All Gender Working Group aims to address these issues.

While there have been some inspiring and innovative initiatives to address the current gender imbalance within the transport sector, and many private and public sector organisations are transforming their employment practices to accelerate change, there is still a long way to go. On 24 October, The European Institute for Gender Equality launched their Gender Equality Index 2022. Figures reveal that progress is incredibly slow, with a mere 0.6-point increase since last year’s edition. As a result, the EU average score now stands at 68.6 out of 100 points, which would indicate full equality, only 5.5 points higher than in 2010. Hence, targeted, effective action is required.

Women’s employment is a significant factor holding back progress. Balancing domestic and professional roles is having a significant impact: 40% of women compared to 21% of men spend at least 4 hours on a typical weekday caring for young children. This is a critical concern for the transport industry. As immediate concerns over the price of fuel, carbon neutrality goals and accessibility issues coincide, mobility finds itself at a crucial juncture, where gender-equal employment is no longer simply a human rights issue, or an ‘added benefit’, but a necessity for the sector’s prosperity. From freight to aviation, rail to maritime, and within the automotive sector, each mode faces unique challenges for creating gender equal employment. However, there are many shared issues, and progress requires international, cross sector action, building on others’ successful initiatives, learning from failures, and recognising the potential for advancement. Improved maternity leave, workplace cultures, education and training (including bias training) – and more – will be critical for creating a more gender-balanced workforce in transport.

As a result, the SUM4All Gender Working Group, a consortium of transport stakeholders working towards gender equality in the mobility sector, is undertaking a project that will examine the barriers and opportunities for improving gender balance across the transport industry. The SUM4All project seeks to produce a practical guide to, and toolkit for, the changes which need to be made to secure greater female participation in the sector, based on good practice examples from across the globe. It will review some of the legal and regulatory changes which have occurred in recent years and examine the potential for accelerating progress. The output will form a very practical support tool for national and regional policymakers, private sector stakeholders, regulators and other key planners and decision-makers in the field.

The project is looking for insights into the current global situation and examples of good practices which are being undertaken. It seeks to identify actions, projects and tools being implemented to enable more women to enter the transport sector, improve working conditions and support career advancement. The project invites you to share your insights in their survey here: SUM4ALL Gender Survey October 2022 (alchemer.com)

From 20-22 September the city of Brno (Czech Republic) hosted the Urban Mobility Days under the theme “Moving people and goods more sustainably”.

Here, SHOW project’s Czech partner CDV introduced driverless vehicles to the public. The goal of the Czech pilot site is to enhance urban mobility for all inhabitants as a complement to the current public transportation system. The Czech satellite site includes two RoboShuttles and one RoboTaxi. Their goal is to complement the existing Public Transport system, enhancing urban mobility for all citizens. The conference attendants had the chance to take a ride around the venue on our autonomous vehicles, collaboratively deployed by CDV, Artin and the City of Brno.

Source: https://show-project.eu/2022/09/29/moving-people-sustainably-at-umd22/

Sustainable mobility is slowly advancing and improving liveability in many Italian regional capitals, mostly thanks to improvements in soft mobility. The report “Cities in transition: the Italian regional capitals towards environmental sustainability”, drafted by the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA), presents the most recent environmental and mobility trends in the main Italian cities, over the past five years, investigating urban liveability, circularity, and resilience to climate change.

Soft mobility: bike lanes and pedestrian areas

Bike lanes are increasing in almost all cities examined by the report. In 2019, Turin was already providing residents with 166km of bike lanes on 100km2 of surface, followed by Milan and Bolzano, both with over 100km of bike lanes. On the one hand, successful results have been identified also in the cities of Genoa, Cagliari, Bari, Florence, Catanzaro, and Palermo, but conversely, bike lanes are decreasing in Campobasso and lacking in the city Potenza.

Pedestrian areas are also increasingly being implemented. The city of Venice records 510m2 of pedestrian areas per 100 inhabitants (this is favoured by its unusual geographic conformation), whilst Florence registers 110m2. The report reveals that only the cities of Genoa and Aosta have less than 10m2 of pedestrian areas. Therefore, if the general trend is an increase of walking areas – with an increase of 495% in Trento and of 227% in Bari in the last ten years – some cities are not progressing in this field. This is the case for Bolzano, Rome, Catanzaro, and Cagliari.

Hybrid and electric cars and local public transport

Hybrid and electric cars are also becoming more popular in Italian cities. Bologna is at the top of the list with significant progress in favouring the adoption of electric/hybrid cars, going from just over 1% in 2015 to over 5% in 2020. Milan ranks second with 4%, while Catanzaro, Campobasso Potenza, Palermo, and Naples still remain below 1%. The air quality is also improving, with atmospheric particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide decreasing in many of the analysed cities between 2013-2020.

At the same time, the report reveals a decrease in demand for local public transport in many municipalities between 2011-2019: Aosta (-61%), Perugia (-43.8%) and Rome (-43.2%), whilst Turin shows an increase that exceeds 40%. With 844.1 annual passengers per inhabitant, Venice is the municipality with the highest values, followed by Milan which, although decreasing, still shows considerable numbers (533.8). Finally, Aosta and Potenza register 12.5 and 18.5 passengers per year respectively.

For more information on the report check the SNPA website.

Love cycling? Then, the city of Utrecht is the place to be. The Dutch city was recently named as the world’s most bicycle friendly city by the Global Bicycle Cities Index 2022.

The index compared 90 cities across the globe, scoring them on indicators grouped under six categories: the weather, bicycle usage, crime & safety, infrastructure, bike sharing opportunities and awareness events such as ‘No Car Day’.

The top-10 featured eight other European cities, with the Chinese city of Hangzhou being the only non-European city in the top-10.

Utrecht takes first place because it scores well in a number of areas, including availability, quality and investment in bicycle infrastructure, the number of bicycle shops and a low number of traffic accidents. Moreover, the city particularly stands out for bicycle use. In fact, 51% of the people in Utrecht use bicycles in everyday life. Compared to other cities in the top-10, Utrecht scores less on bike sharing. An explanation may lie in the fact that 94% of residents have one or more bicycles in their household.

The German city of Munster is the second most bike-friendly place in the world. Although more than 39%of residents use bikes on a daily basis, the city has a low rate of cycling fatalities. Munster also regularly hosts events promoting cycling.

The Belgian city of Antwerp ranks third. It has a strong city-wide bike-sharing system, hosts “car-free Sunday” events to promote cycling and has relatively few bike thefts.

The rest of the top 10 best cities in the world for cyclists are:

1. Utrecht, Netherlands
2. Munster, Germany
3. Antwerp, Belgium
4. Copenhagen, Denmark
5. Amsterdam, Netherlands
6. Malmö, Sweden
7. Hangzhou, China
8. Bern, Switzerland
9. Bremen, Germany
10. Hannover, Germany

Registration is now open for Urban Mobility Days 2022, held on 20-22 September in the city of Brno, Czech Republic.

Sign up now for Urban Mobility Days 2022. This year’s theme is ‘Moving people and goods more sustainably’, and across three days, we traverse the length and breadth of sustainable urban mobility, examining the challenges and solutions at hand.

Cities face critical challenges on the path to sustainable mobility, yet they also hold the key to action. More than 70% of Europeans live in cities, and urban areas account for around 23% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions from transport. At the same time, European cities are home to some of the boldest and most innovative solutions for both passenger and freight transit.

Urban Mobility Days addresses these key challenges. This biennial conference, jointly organised by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport (DG MOVE), and the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, is a major event in the urban mobility calendar. Having taken place online two years ago due to COVID-19, we are delighted to welcome delegates back in person (with a virtual option available).

Urban Mobility Days provides a unique forum to convene policymakers, local authorities, academics, NGOs, urban transport practitioners, and urban planners to connect, share and discuss the path forward for a sustainable, innovative, and equitable future for Europe’s urban mobility.

This year’s programme is set to be as engaging as ever. With panel discussions, thematic sessions, exhibitions and side events, discussions range from boosting active travel to financing climate neutrality, to zero-emission zones and of course SUMPs.

Four plenary sessions will bring together leading decision makers to discuss key issues shaping urban mobility today. On day one we examine how to put active modes and public transport first and focus on TEN-T urban nodes. Day two includes discussions on funding and financing, with a dive into implementing Urban Air Mobility in cities on day three.

As 2022 is the European Year of Youth, Urban Mobility Days puts the spotlight on young voices and views, to make sure Europe’s young people join the debate as we discuss the big questions of climate resilience and reducing dependency on Russian oil following the invasion of Ukraine. In addition to the dedicated, ‘Mobility Powered by Youth’ event, we will hear from a young rapporteur at each session throughout the conference.

Further information regarding the programme can be found on the Urban Mobility Days website: https://www.eumd.org

In 2021, the French government introduced an individual reward scheme for people trading in their car for an e-bike. Now, the money a person can receive has doubled to EUR 4,000. The full subsidy is available for low-income families in low-emission urban zones trading in their cars, whilst people with higher income levels receive a lesser amount. The incentive may also be used for traditional bicycles that do not have motors.

This subsidy scheme aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and France is pushing cycling to catch up to its bicycle-popular neighbours such as the Netherlands or Germany. Today, about 3% of the French population commutes to work by bicycle, but the aim is to triple this by 2024. As well as individual rewards, the national government is also investing EUR 250 million to make the entire city of Paris accessible by bicycle, including creating 130 km bicycle-safe lanes over the next five years (as pledged by the city’s Mayor Anne Hidalgo).

This car to e-bike exchange programme is taken from the successful model of Lithuania. Residents receive EUR 1,000 if they trade in their old vehicle for a new electric bike, scooter, moped motorcycle or credits for public transport (as reported here).