Vienna is seeing the introduction of more encounter zones – ‘Begegnungszonen' in German – in order to improve the quality of public space in the city.
A traffic circulation plan introduced in the Belgian city of Leuven in 2016 has led to an increase in cycling of 32% in just one year, partly thanks to a ban on through car traffic.
With its 100,000 inhabitants, Leuven is home to one of the region’s oldest and largest universities, counting more than 50,000 students. In 2016, the city introduced a new circulation plan, which prevented car traffic from driving through the city within its ring road.
Berlin has announced that all school students will be able to use public transport for free.
From the autumn of 2019, trials with self-guided buses will start in the Italian city of Turin, while another project in the city aims to pave the way for urban air mobility trials.
In the Netherlands, since 1 July 2019 it is has not been permitted to cycle while holding a mobile phone.
This is in recognition of the fact that cyclists using their phones are cognitively and visually distracted. Before the ban, 49% of Dutch people used their mobile phone while cycling, while amongst young people (aged between 18 and 24 years old) the proportion was higher at 75%.
The fine for anyone caught holding a mobile phone while cycling is €95. Cyclists must keep their phone in a pocket, jacket or bag.
An electric car-sharing service with a presence in Lithuania and Bulgaria has recently launched recently in Bucharest, Romania.
The Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (Portugal) and the University of Navarra (Spain), in collaboration with the San Juan de Dios hospital in Pamplona (Spain), the Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy) and the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (Portugal), have launched a research project on the mobility and accessibility of elderly people in cities.
On 19 June, the European Commission published details as to how it intends to put its Strategic Action Plan on Road Safety into practice. The published 'Framework' sets out how the Commission intends to reach the target of a 50% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries by 2030.
Rome has started trialling machines that allow passengers to earn public transport tickets by recycling plastic bottles.
The machines have been placed in one station on each of Rome's three metro lines: in the Cipro metro station on Line A, Piramide on Line B and San Giovanni on Line C. They will be in place for a 12-month “test phase”, after which authorities will decide whether to expand or suspend the scheme. This initiative makes the Italian capital the “first large European capital” to test such a scheme, according to city mayor Virginia Raggi.
The schools in the UK city of Coventry have a problem in common with many other schools Europe-wide: unsafe roads around schools resulting from high levels of traffic, the largest part of which caused by parents dropping off their children directly at the school gate right before classes start.
There are 5 main inclusivity requirements to be fulfilled by transport systems and Bax & Company have created a matrix summarising, for each requirement, how introducing digital technologies to the transport sector can provide more inclusive services for vulnerable users.
Toyota received the green light in Belgium to carry out tests on public roads to study the interaction between self-driving cars and people in daily conditions. The tests that will take place on the streets of Brussels aim to assess the functioning of advanced driving systems in urban contexts.
Towns and cities have been invited to apply to host CIVITAS peer-exchange activities in 2020.
EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is being held from 16 to 22 September 2019 with the main theme of "Safe Walking and Cycling". Any town or city, from either Europe or further beyond, is invited to participate.
The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK campaign has been in action since 2002 and over the years has given people from all over Europe – and the rest of the world – the opportunity to take part in a wide campaign to promote and trial clean mobility and sustainable urban transport.
Since high-speed rail arrived in Spain in 1992 with the Madrid-Seville line, the Spanish state railway operator, Renfe has been gaining traction to become one of the most technologically advanced railway operators in the world.
Now Renfe wants to sprint from being a rail operator to an integral mobility operator, reorienting its future business model and paying particular attention to digital transformation.
Four publications from CIVITAS SUMPs-Up are now available in French, Hungarian and Spanish. Three manuals on SUMP measure selection and a report giving guidance on developing a SUMP action plan are those that have been translated.
An Action Plan for Sustainable Mobility in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (PAMUS RAM) was approved at the end of June.
The plan is vital to efforts to transition towards clean, inclusive and safe transport in the Portuguese region.
It provides the Regional Government with an instrument that links the short-, medium- and long-term action strategy for the development of infrastructure and transport of the RAM, improving accessibility throughout its territory and providing more sustainable mobility and transport to residents and visitors.
