Monitoring protocol for assessing the socioeconomic impact of GYM

GYM team generated the socio-economic impact assessment model. The model addresses the needs of the monitoring tool which will be used to assess the socio-economic impact of GYM project.

The evaluation method that is used follows a multi-criteria analysis approach, aggregating the socioeconomic benefits of the project. For each axis, social and economic, a number of criteria and indicators (a total of 11 subcategories and 106 weighted criteria) are set in order to enable tracking the socio-economic impact in measureable units.

The monitoring protocol will document the effectiveness of GYM throughout the project’s lifetime which is essential in order to enable mobility managers, regulatory agencies and other EU journey planners to build on GYM monitoring outputs, compare results to other case studies or use results as a basis for urban mobility plans.

For more information: click here.

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) beyond borders

The ITS World Congress rotates between Europe, the Asia Pacific region and the Americas, returning to Europe every three years. The ITS European Congress is held in the years when there is not a World Congress taking place in Europe.

The 12th ITS European Congress takes place in June 2017 in Strasbourg, one of the few European cities providing a package of best practices as a pioneer in sustainable mobility. The intersection of multiple transport and communication networks makes the city a wonderful living lab for mobility.

The Congresses provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to come together, discuss and make the necessary contacts to move initiatives forward and to develop their business by exhibiting and demonstrating state of the art ITS solutions. The Congresses also showcase the latest ITS achievements from the city and region hosting the Congress, and can help increase awareness of ITS in the Host region itself.

For more information: click here.

Cooperative ITS and cities

Cities perspective on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) and their readiness for urban C-ITS are under discussion by CIMEC project and EC representatives in order to conclude to what needs to be done to make this happen. CIMEC project (Cooperative ITS for Mobility in European Cities) shares the main findings of the project funded by Horizon 2020 during an event planned on 18th of May in Brussels.

Conference participants will learn about the views and requirements of cities regarding C-ITS, the current state of the supplier market and where deployment in cities can happen which is beneficial to, and minimises risk, to city authorities.

This event will also provide an opportunity to learn about national programmes and plans for cities to move towards C-ITS deployment as well as European activities in this area.

For more information: click here.

Workshop on cleaner transport by TRIP

Transport Research & Innovation Portal (TRIP) is organising an one-day stakeholder workshop on cleaner transport in Brussels on 3rd of May.

The day will include presentations on sub-theme analyses such as alternative fuels, automation, vehicle design, modal shift, intermodality and low – emissions logistics.

Participants will learn about the progress in cleaner transport research and how the results can be used to guide the development of clean transport. They will also have the opportunity to influence recommendations for future policy development.

For more information: click here.

Cities and Regions for Sustainable Transport: Polis network

Polis is a network of European cities and regions working together to develop innovative technologies and policies for local transport. Since 1989, European local and regional authorities have been working together within Polis to promote sustainable mobility through the deployment of innovative transport solutions.

The activities of Polis are organised around four thematic pillars:

• Environment and Health in Transport
• Mobility and Traffic Efficiency
• Transport Safety and Security
• Social and Economic Aspects of Transport

This year's Annual Polis Conference on "Transport innovation for sustainable cities and regions" will take place on 6 and 7 December 2017 in Brussels. The call for speakers will open in March and close in May.

Download POLIS network brochure here:

http://www.polisnetwork.eu/uploads/Modules/PublicDocuments/polis-brochure_2016---web.PDF
For more information: click here.

Congratulations to TSG Network for savings of 2.458.853Km of car trips and 397 tonnes of CO2

During the period of 3 project years 2014 – 2017, the Traffic Snake Game (TSG) took place in 19 countries. The Traffic Snake Game is a fun campaign to promote walking and cycling to school for children (aged 4-12), their parents and teachers. TSG Network is coordinated by Mobiel 21 (Belgium) and includes a consortium of National Focal Points (NFPs) in 18 EU countries.

So far, the impressive amount of 177 587 pupils and 1 192 schools played the game in a total of 507 cities. The EU-wide savings in this period reached 2 458 853 kilometres of car trips and 397 tonnes of CO2.

The European Commission has favoured the network for partial funding between 2014-2016. The project team aims to establish an effective EU-wide and long-term support network to replicate, transfer and expand the uptake of the Traffic Snake Game. There are currently 18 National Focal Points from different European countries. Click here to view the list of all national focal points.

Have a look at this video to see how the campaign works and join the network!

For more information: click here.

Use of ICT (Information Communication Technologies) for collecting traffic data and communicating with passengers as tools to support Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP)

On March the 2nd the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas along with the Region of Central Macedonia organize an event to introduce best practices and ICT tools used in view of collecting data and involving passengers in the formulation of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan.

The event is organized in the framework of REFORM project - Integrated Regional Action Plan for Innovative, Sustainable and Low Carbon Mobility – funded by the European Regional Development Fund within INTERREG EUROPE program.

REFORM aims to ease the transition towards low-carbon alternatives for mobility by developing guidance materials and organising a series of dedicated events to help local municipalities in the preparation of their SUMP. The expected result is the improvement of Regional Operational Programs in such a way so as to enable funding and, thus, wider implementation of SUMPs by municipalities. This will be achieved via transferring best practices that support all stages of SUMP, from educating the technical staff of municipalities till defining basic priorities that SUMPs should serve at regional level.

Information about REFORM: http://www.interregeurope.eu/reform/

For more information: click here.

Take the SUMP survey and win a trip to SUMP conference in Dubrovnik

Three new CIVITAS mobility projects, PROSPERITY, SUITS and SUMPs-Up,  have launched a survey to help them understand cities’ needs and barriers when trying to develop Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs).

‘This survey will gather crucial details on what’s holding back or driving forward urban mobility planning in cities across Europe. It will enable our experts to create high-quality products and services that local authorities can use to develop SUMPs,’ said Cristina Garzillo, the SUMPs-Up project co-ordinator.

City representatives that complete the survey before Tuesday 28 February 2017 will get priority for the projects’ training and support activities, and receive up to €600 towards travel and accommodation costs for the 4th European Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in Dubrovnik (Croatia).

For more information: click here.

2017 CEF Transport blending call Info Day

The 2017 CEF Transport Blending Info Day will take place on 27 February 2017 in Brussels, Belgium. The event will address the priorities of the 2017 CEF Transport Blending Call (yet to be published).

One specific objective of the call is to increase, through blending (equity, loans and/or guarantees), the participation of private sector investment in the financing of TEN-T projects, as a complement to the traditional grant funding.

Transport blending call - €1 billion combinatory funds in European transport infrastructure

The European Commission is launching a new and innovative way to finance transport infrastructure projects in Europe. The call for proposals will seek to combine €1 billion of grants (Connecting Europe Facility - Transport) with financing from public financial institutions, the private sector or, for the first time, the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

This first ever combination of funds will help to achieve the twin objectives of boosting investment to fund innovative, sustainable transport infrastructure upgrades while supporting jobs needed to put that infrastructure in place. The call contributes to the implementation of the Commission's Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility under the Energy Union, and also supports investments in "sustainable transport" in view of the upcoming road mobility initiatives to be launched later in the year.

Download the leaflet here:
https://ec.europa.eu/inea/sites/inea/files/cef_transport_blending_2017_call_leaflet_web.pdfhttps://ec.europa.eu/inea/sites/inea/files/cef_transport_blending_2017_call_leaflet_web.pdf 

Visit the call’s webpage here:
https://ec.europa.eu/inea/en/connecting-europe-facility/cef-transport/apply-funding/2017-cef-transport-calls-proposalshttps://ec.europa.eu/inea/en/connecting-europe-facility/cef-transport/apply-funding/2017-cef-transport-calls-proposals 

For more information: click here.

The first electric bus in Sofia

The city of Sofia is introducing an electric bus in order to test its suitability for a larger-scale roll out. The Chinese-made Yutong bus started on January 15 and will be operating on the city’s No. 84 bus line until May.
The bus will travel between the city and Sofia Airport, one of the most polluted routes in the city. The bus can travel up to 300 km on a single charge, which is enough for its needs when operating in Sofia’s urban areas.
The new bus comes with the installation of a charging point which can fully charge the batteries of the bus in four to five hours.
Following the test, the municipality will come to a final decision on what kind of electric bus to introduce into its public transport fleet.
For more information: click here.