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25 January 2017

EU invests for faster, smoother connections on key transport networks

The Commission has approved three "major projects", together worth €161 million from the Cohesion Fund, for upgrading works along road and railway networks in the Czech Republic.
Almost 40% of them have been allocated to the first project that will focus on the modernization of railway sections, aiming at reducing commuting time for passengers and at ensuring a smoother connection between Prague and the German border. The project should be completed by the summer of 2017.
35% of the Fund will be allocated to the second project that will focus on the improvement of an important expressway located at the Padubice region.
Finally, 25% of the Fund will be allocated to the third project in order to upgrade the road section in the Moravian-Silesian region. The project aims at increasing the traffic capacity and ensuring better connection with Slovakia.
For more information: click here.

150 Greek cities receive funding for Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) development

150 municipalities of Greece will receive a total of 9M € from Green Fund, organization under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, in order to generate their SUMPs.
The SUMPs target improved connectivity of different urban transport modes. They place emphasis to citizens and to promote behavioral changes regarding transport and mobility. The Plans investigate each urban zone as an entity and suggest activities of urban mobility within a sustainable policy. The plans are drafted based on different sectors: they take into account transport, mobility needs, land uses, spatial analysis, environment, socio-economic development, etc. SUMPs finally provide specific action plans to local authorities guiding them to the adoption of sustainable mobility strategies.
The amounts allocated to each Municipality was based on objective criteria such as population, population density, regional level, existence of mass media transport end stops, tourist attraction and seasonal population increase, as well as the maturity level of each Municipality, whether they had traffic studies and data, spatial data etc.
For more information: click here.

24 January 2017

Global Public Transport Summit 2017

The Global Public Transport Summit (GPTS) is a unique event that covers all urban and regional transport modes. It combines a full programme of congress sessions with an exhibition of the latest solutions, innovations and products in public transport and urban mobility.
The next summit will occur on 15 – 17 May 2017, and will be held in Montréal due to the city’s recent achievements in public transport. The theme for the 2017 Global Public Transport Summit is ‘LEAD the TRANSITion’, chosen because it reflects the evolution of the public transport sector.
The event will be co-organised by the Société de transport de Montréal, a public corporation that operates four metro lines, and by the Agence métropolitaine de transport, responsible for the planning, coordination, integration and promotion of public transport in Greater Montréal, in collaboration with CUTA (Canadian Urban Transport Association), a member-based association that supports public transit as the core of integrated mobility across Canada.
All interested parties are welcome to register via filling in and sending the corresponsive registration form.
For more information: click here.

Evidence: Economic benefits of sustainable mobility interventions

The EVIDENCE project has reviewed a range of material exploring the economic benefits of 'more sustainable' mobility-related interventions with potential to be deployed in urban areas.
The partners of the project have published short summaries with the results that aroused from the study of 22 categories of intervention. The Summaries cover topics such as Clean vehicles and fuels, Urban freight, Demand management strategies, Mobility management, Collective passenger transport and Transport telematics.
Each summary contains a score for the strength of economic benefit and for the amount of evidence readily available, as well as the time frame that you should expect to see the benefits in.
For more information: click here.

Olympia odos’ traffic management centre in N. Peramos

The new-state-of-the-art traffic management centre of Olympia Odos is located in Nea Peramos. In the centre, the images from the cameras are being projected in a technologically advanced video wall with twelve 60 inches monitors.
The center has 4 work stations, it is equipped with an upgraded system for automatic detection of incidents and with a brand new control system that allows the remote operation of the fire extinguish, irrigation, street lighting, tunnel security and traffic signing systems.

13 January 2017

Thessaloniki Metro: TBMs are nearing the finishing line

Thessaloniki Metro’s TBMs (Tunnel Boring Machines) are expected to finish their underground journey by mid-February, John Milopoulos, Attiko Metro SA Chairman, said. “As we speak, the moles are digging the last part of the tunnel between Patrikios and Analipsi stations. Analipsi is the last station of the network. This was the most challenging and costly part of the project as we had to go as deep as 25-30 meters.”, he added.
In addition, the approval of the project plan of Venizelos station was co-signed by the mayor of Thessaloniki, the Ministry of Culture and Attiko Metro SA a week ago. In 2017, it is estimated that all stations are going to be completed apart from the stations of Aghia Sofia and Venizelos.
According to Mr. Milopoulos, there are going to be 3 more lines in the future; 2 to Evosmos-Menemeni and Neapoli-Stavroupoli and one extending from Kalamaria to the Airport.
For more information: click here.

Free public transport as smog covers Warsaw

The city of Warsaw has made public transport free in an effort to encourage people to leave their cars at home as the Polish capital battles record levels of smog. The problems, according to the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Warsaw, are caused by a combination of low temperatures, more emissions caused by people heating their homes and very low wind speeds.

U-MOB LIFE, sustainable mobility at universities

The U-MOB LIFE | European University Network for Sustainable Mobility project has just started, with a budget of € 1.3 million and it is funded by LIFE initiative. The U-MOB project is aimed at the university mobility managers, but the goal is to reach university communities across Europe, driving a change of mind from unsustainable transport modes (car) to non-motorised modes (bicycle or displacement on foot) and public transport.

Czechs sorted out 417,000 tons of bio-waste in 2015

Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic introduced last year municipalities’ duty to ensure that citizens have option to discard the bio-waste. Thanks to that Czechs last year sorted out about 92,000 tons of bio-waste more than in 2014.