Eltis

At the start of December the Brussels-Capital Region reached an internal agreement on the introduction of a ‘City Toll’ or ‘Intelligent Kilometre Charge’. The road charging project, called SmartMove, is to be introduced in 2022 and aims to reduce the number of individual journeys by car by 25% by 2030. The Capital Region hopes the measure will reduce congestion on the many city avenues and tunnels, and to improve air quality.

As part of a £66 million investment, 100 zero emission buses will be distributed between the 2 largest cities in Northern Ireland, Belfast and Derry, whilst Ulsterbus, operatering services outside of Belfast, will receive the remaining 45 buses which are to be low-emission vehicles.

The transport operator in Northern Ireland, Translink, says that this investment forms a key part of its Net Zero Emissions Strategy. The low and zero emission buses will be central in providing cleaner and greener transport, to improve air quality and address the climate emergency.

Towards the end of 2020, Transport for London (TfL) published its latest annual report, which included figures relating to transport for 2019, including developments in modal choices. That year, the London area saw a small increase in the overall volume of transport of 0.7%, while the UK Department for Transport states that road traffic saw a decrease in vehicle kilometres of 0.5%.

Tourism is important for economic growth, especially in the underperforming Mediterranean economies. In order to support sustainable transport in these areas, DESTINATIONS, a CIVITAS HORIZON 2020 living lab project, has developed and implemented sustainable mobility measures and actions in six European tourist sites.

Learning from your city peers as if you were visiting them - how is that supposed to work during a global health pandemic?

As traditional face-to-face peer exchanges could not be organised this year, CIVITAS collaborated with cities to be daring and re-invent ways of exchanging knowledge and learning from each other.

The Italian city of Florence has agreed a new plan that aims to reduce air pollution and improve people’s quality of life. The city will implement a 'Green Shield', which is a low emission zone.

The Community of Madrid has introduced on-demand bus stops for women and minors on all city nightline buses. The pioneering initiative makes it possible to for women and children under 18 years of age to request a stop at any point along the route within the urban area.

“Location, location, location” is a well-known saying in the world of real estate business.

The European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) has released 27 country-specific guides which aim to help local and regional authorities unlock investments in cycling through the EU Structural Funds.

The ECF is pushing for modal shift towards cycling, and this will require sustained investment. In particular, there is a need for safe and comfortable cycle routes in urban, peri-urban and rural areas throughout Europe.

There are currently two main sources of EU funding available to achieve this:

Changes in urban vehicle access regulations (UVARs) throughout the EU have seen a shift towards an emphasis on cleaner air and fewer cars. However, recent developments have led to regulations being relaxed, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UK’s Department for Transport has published a study, “Future of Transport: User Study”, that sees 'Mobility as a Service' (MaaS) gaining momentum, particularly with younger generations.

Younger generations, who “use apps as others brush their teeth”, are by far the largest group of MaaS users: 57% of those in the 16 to 24 age group use MaaS services, while only 9% of the 65+ age group do. Uber seems to be an entry point: 60% of those surveyed that use MaaS products used Uber. There was little evidence of an urban-rural divide on MaaS usage, according to the study.

A market study has analysed the development of the shared mobility economy. The study goes on to develop a structured and clear presentation of the shared mobility economy's manifold characteristics, featuring precise definitions and explicit designations.

The latter is particularly important: a dynamic market such as shared mobility, with its many new word creations, requires clear terms for good communication. In addition, the market study also provides interesting data on the status of shared mobility within Germany. The report is based on data from 162 mobility providers.

The Dutch government has funded a pilot study to test technology that could help cut e-bike fatalities and so help to promote cycling. The pilot involved the testing of a system that could automatically reduce the speed of the fastest electric bikes, the so-called speed-pedelecs or S-pedelecs. These bikes have a maximum assisted speed of 45 km/h, instead of 25 km/h which is the limit for a standard e-bike. Their ability to reach high speeds is considered to pose increased safety risks, especially in urban areas with heavy and mixed traffic.