Electric cars in Switzerland will be required to make an artificial noise. The aim of the measure is to improve safety for pedestrians, especially the visually impaired.
Switzerland implemented this measure by adopting an EU regulation (Regulation EU No 540/2014). This requires that, by July 2019, all new models of electric, fuel cell and hybrid cars are equipped with an acoustic alert system that generates “engine noises”. The measure will apply to all new electric, hybrid and fuel cell cars by 2021.
CIVITAS PROSPERITY has released new interviews with SUMP ambassadors who describe the measures they have developed to implement exemplary sustainable urban management plans. The SUMP ambassadors each bring a unique perspective to the subject.
Polona Demšar Mitrović is from the Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure and talks about the planning and implementation of developing an updated SUMP supporting program - a measure that is currently underway.
Paris' Deputy Mayor Christophe Najdovski talks about the sustainable urban mobility policy of his city.
At the end of October, the European Environment Agency published its report on 'Air Quality in Europe 2018'. It notes that levels of air pollution are still too high and that this is the main reason for premature deaths in 41 European countries.
Recent forecasts from the Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis have predicted significantly longer travel times for road traffic due to congestion. In five years, travel times for car traffic is expected to go up by roughly one third. Increased road capacity will not be able to accommodate the growth of traffic.
The UK planning system has ‘deep flaws’, as new housing developments are constructed without sufficient public transport, walking and cycling connections, according to a report.
On Tuesday 30 October, the EU’s Transport and Environment Ministers met in Graz (Austria) to discuss pathways leading to a European clean mobility. At the end of the day, they resolved the “Graz declaration”.
“A new era starts: clean, safe and affordable mobility for Europe” is the heading of the declaration which details how the European climate goals 2030 should be achieved.
Last week the new Sustainable Mobility Ordinance came into force in the City of Madrid, promoted by the City Council. The measure aims to regulate new forms of urban and shared mobility for the first time, simultaneously promoting public transport use and the safety of pedestrians and people with reduced mobility.
Half a million workers commute into the City, London’s business district, also known as 'The Square Mile'. With these commuters, and the delivery vans that also serve the area, the Square Mile experiences many transport challenges. In order to tackle congestion, reduce accidents, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the City of London Corporation, the authority responsible for governing the area, has drafted a long-term Transport Strategy to improve transport in the City.
Paris contains a “cluster” of main public transport stations by Gare du Nord with the Magetna RER station and Gare du Est in a 500 m proximity to each other. The two locations host 800 000 passengers each day of which 200 000 passengers are using both for interchanges. Now, the transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités announced a € 50 million plan to improve the connection between the two stations by 10 project elements.
The release of the IPCC's latest report on the likelihood of keeping global warming to 1.5°C, and the associated impacts of climate change, has emphasised the need for urgent action in many sectors, including transport. The IPCC identified transport as a sector in need of rapid change, as it remains a growing contributor to carbon emissions and harmful air pollutants.
The Union of Municipalities of Turkey were appointed as the National Coordinator of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK (EMW) in Turkey for 2018 and received support from the EU Delegation in their efforts to increase awareness and participation in events and activities. The efforts paid off, with 92 registered actions across 26 Turkish cities who participated this year, compared to 7 cities in 2017 and only 1 city in 2016.
The region of North Holland has run the first pilot project of autonomous vehicles on public roads in the Netherlands.
The cars were connected with each other and with intelligent traffic lights. The intelligent traffic lights were able to monitor the traffic, anticipate traffic levels and to communicate with oncoming vehicles. They were also able to inform the cars of the time remaining before the lights turned green or red and to stay green longer if this helped to improve the flow.
HANDSHAKE, a new CIVITAS project, will support the take-up and transfer of successful cycling measures developed by three world-class cycling cities - Copenhagen (Denmark), Amsterdam (the Netherlands), and Munich (Germany) - to ten other cities across the EU.
In October 2018, Interreg Europe’s Policy Learning Platform on Low Carbon Economy published findings and recommendations on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs).
The policy brief drew on a number of relevant projects that have been supported by the programme. It looked at the needs and specifics of the SUMP concept and process, as well as recent developments.
The 31st Annual Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition was held in Kobe, Japan on 3 October 2018.
This year, the Scottish city Dundee was awarded the International 'E-Visionary' Award, by the World Electric Vehicle Association. Dundee City Council operates the highest number of electric vehicles (EVs) of any local authority in the UK and won the award due to its continued dedication to sustainable transport.
The Brussels capital region is free of cars – well, it was for one day at least... The city took the opportunity of European Mobility Week to have its car-free Sunday on 16 September 2018 and closed the entire Brussels region to individual motorised transport between with 9.30 am to 7.00 pm. There were exceptions, but only for taxis, buses, police, emergency vehicles and persons with a special permit – and these still had to respect a city-wide speed limit of 30 km/h.
From 16 - 22 September, 2018 activities took place all across Europe and other regions to mark EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK.
This years participation in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, with 2 793 cities from 54 different countries registering to take part in activities makes 2018 the third record breaking year in a row!
The full list of participating countries and the cities that have taken part is available from http://www.mobilityweek.eu/2018-participants.
To mark European Mobility Week 2018, the new Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) of the city of Perugia was presented to residents. It consists of a medium to long-term plan with the objective to create more favourable conditions for reducing private motorised transport. Perugia has one of the highest motorisation rates in Europe with 713 cars per 1 000 inhabitants, the SUMP also encourages the use of public transport and emphasises steps to improve quality of life for residents.
Will 'Mobility as a Service', or 'MaaS', change our travel behaviour? To answer this question, the Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (KiM) studied the experiences with MaaS across Europe and consulted focus groups in both urban and peripheral regions.
