Skip to main content

Moving in the right direction: promoting sustainable transport in European Mobility Week

European Mobility Week (16-22 September 2012) sees the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) reaffirming its stance that a long-term commitment to invest in public transport is key to reducing congestion in European cities and encouraging the development of sustainable economies. With around 80% of Europeans expected to be living in urban environments by 2020, public transport is essential for ensuring quality of life and delivering green growth. Encouraging a modal shift from private motori
September 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
European Mobility Week (16-22 September 2012) sees the 3833 International Association of Public Transport (UITP) reaffirming its stance that a long-term commitment to invest in public transport is key to reducing congestion in European cities and encouraging the development of sustainable economies.

With around 80% of Europeans expected to be living in urban environments by 2020, public transport is essential for ensuring quality of life and delivering green growth.

Encouraging a modal shift from private motorised modes to public transport will unblock gridlocked cities, lower energy consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Public transport also plays an important socio-economic role, allowing access to education, health services and economic activities, enabling them to function properly whilst providing all social classes with a form of mobility that is affordable, clean and pleasant.

“This year’s European Mobility Week highlights the importance of relieving congestion, improving quality of life and providing sustainable and fluid mobility solutions in our cities,” said UITP Secretary General, Alain Flausch. “We are convinced that public transport, which is both environmentally friendly and socio-economically beneficial, is ideally placed to meet the challenges of increasing urbanisation in the coming years. There are many positive examples around the world and the cities taking part in the European Mobility Week are good examples of the willingness to work towards this objective.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS annual meeting - how transportation affects social issues
    August 2, 2012
    The 2010 ITS America Annual Meeting & Exposition, which will take place in Houston, Texas will offer attendees something of a contrast with the policy-driven event which took place in Washington, DC this year. Houston will go to the other end of the scale and focus on real-life technology applications and operational best practice, says event Co-Chair David Sparks
  • Aimsun solutions support new planning tool for low-carbon mobility
    March 8, 2023
    The EU-funded HARMONY research project is behind a new planning tool to support sustainable transport policymaking. Aimsun scientific researcher Lampros Yfantis explains the key role of traffic simulation with Aimsun Ride in planning for on-demand mobility and logistics services
  • Asecap Days 2025: Call for papers extended
    October 2, 2024
    Speakers have until 15 October to submit for summit in Madrid on 26-28 May 2025
  • European sustainable urban mobility winners announced
    March 24, 2015
    An imaginative and systematic approach to monitoring and evaluation has won Bremen, Germany the European Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) Award, while Östersund in Sweden has been presented with the European Mobility Week Award for its work on sustainable travel options. Bremen’s interactive web platform was used to obtain feedback from residents and a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity and threat) analysis was carried out using this and other data. Five different scenarios were then examined showi