Skip to main content

Sustainable urban mobility takes centre stage in Europe

The European Commission has indicated that it will step up its support to towns and cities, and encourage the development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. These initiatives form the cornerstones of the new Urban Mobility Package which the European Commission adopted in December 2013. Vice-President Siim Kallas, EU commissioner for mobility and transport, said, ‘Addressing the problems of urban mobility is one of the great challenges in transport today. With coordinated action we can be more successf
January 28, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The 1690 European Commission has indicated that it will step up its support to towns and cities, and encourage the development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. These initiatives form the cornerstones of the new Urban Mobility Package which the European Commission adopted in December 2013.
 
Vice-President Siim Kallas, EU commissioner for mobility and transport, said, ‘Addressing the problems of urban mobility is one of the great challenges in transport today. With coordinated action we can be more successful. Local authorities are the key decision makers. They are best placed to take important local decisions, but they should benefit from support at national and EU level.’
 
With the package, the Commission bolsters its supporting measures in the area of urban mobility by reinforcing the exchange of best practice and enhancing cooperation, providing targeted financial support and investing in research and development. It also identifies concrete initiatives in relation to urban logistics, access regulations and road user charging, intelligent transport systems (ITS) as well as urban road safety.

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans play an important role in achieving the Commission’s aims. Following years of exchange and analysis of best practice that involved experts and stakeholders across Europe, a concept for Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans has emerged as an effective approach to stimulate a shift towards more sustainable mobility and a higher quality of life in urban areas.

A European platform on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans will be launched to coordinate all Commission-supported activities in this area and foster broader exchange. The present portal on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, www.mobilityplans.eu, will be expanded into a virtual knowledge and competence centre and be integrated into the Eltis portal.

More information on the Urban Mobility Package is available on the European Commission’s %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal website http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/ump_en.htm false http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/ump_en.htm false false%>.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Presentations from 2012 Connected Vehicle Safety Workshop now available online
    October 4, 2012
    PowerPoint presentations from September’s Connected Vehicle public meeting in Chicago are now available for viewing on the internet. The meeting, which was organised by the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO), focused on vehicle-to-vehicle safety, the current safety pilot model deployment, development of a robust vehicle-to-infrastructure environment, connected vehicle deployment strategies, and preparation for NHTSA's 2013 decision. In addition, participants had an opportunit
  • ITS World Congress 2017 call for demos
    January 3, 2017
    As part of the Montréal World Congress 2017, conference organizers are planning to feature live demonstrations of ITS technologies. The city of Montréal will create a virtual test bed on the streets adjacent to the Convention Centre. This test bed will include an arterial loop circling the Centre and a section of a nearby limited access highway that will be equipped with DSRC roadside units integrated with local signal controllers to support demonstrations of connected vehicle technologies. In order to a
  • Co-funding available for European sustainable mobility projects
    March 28, 2014
    CIVITAS Capital is offering co-funding of up to 50 per cent for urban mobility projects. To be eligible, projects must focus on one of six topics: integrated planning; urban freight logistics; demand management strategies; transport telematics; safety and security; and clean fuels and vehicles. The project is supporting the take-up of sustainable urban mobility measures through an Activity Fund. This co-financing mechanism will encourage the transfer of successful measures from ‘pioneer’ cities to ‘take-
  • Towards a more efficient use of transport research infrastructures
    September 16, 2013
    The European Transport Research Alliance (ETRA) has organised a one day conference on ways towards facilitating the wider and more balanced use of (large) transport research infrastructures in Europe as well as facilitating the linking of relevant research data bases and exchanges of data. The idea is to promote this cooperation and networking of research infrastructures as part of the process for creating the ERA–T, the European Research Area in the field of transport. The conference takes place on 10 Octo