Suburban Railway of Athens: First studies on the extensions to the city of Lavrio and Rafina

By a letter from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Infrastructure to OSE, ERGOSE and EYDE / KESP PE & BE, ​​a committee of nine members was asked to complete the rigorous procedures for the extension of the Suburban Railway to Lavrio (Koropi-Lavrion) and Rafina (Airport-Rafina).

From the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport document, which appears to be definitively blocked, is that Rafina will be connected by rail to the airport and is an easier technical project with fewer expropriations and will cover the areas of Spata, Porto-Rafti, reaching the harbor of Rafina, which this year is expected to exceed 2 million passengers.

But we are talking about projects that take time in front of them to mature, and at best, even if they find funding sources, they are unlikely to start before 2020.

For more information click here.

Slovenia's first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan on a small scale: Ljutomer

Ljutomer a town with 3,300 inhabitants, was the first place in Slovenia to prepare a pilot Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan(SUMP) on a 'small' scale. The municipality of the same name encouraged Ljutomer to place an emphasis on sustainable mobility and strive for a role as one of the leading municipalities in the field. It’s located on flat terrain.

Its small size, undemanding topography, and mild climate mean walking and cycling are theoretically possible almost all year round. The whole town can be crossed on foot in under half an hour, whilst other bigger towns in the municipality can be reached within 15 minutes on a bike.

Ljutomer's pilot SUMP was approved in 2012. Ljutomer's SUMP was developed as a pilot for small towns and cities within a wider national project that focused on sustainable urban mobility planning. The municipality acted as a role model for several other Slovenian municipalities who prepared their first SUMP for a national tender in 2016 and 2017.

Ljutomer's second-generation SUMP was submitted as part of the same tender. Its preparation saw the adoption of a more sustainable approach to transport planning that placed the existing, more traditional approach in a wider context.

For more information : click here.

Cohesion Policy invests for a safer and faster mobility in Romania

Over € 336 million has been invested in the construction of the section between the cities of Dumbrava and Deva on the Lugoj-Deva highway as part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

Travel time between the two cities will be reduced by one third for motorists. Approximately € 62 million will then help to refurbish part of the national road 6 between the cities of Alexandria and Craiova in the southwest of the country. This will improve road safety and reduce journey time by three-quarters of an hour.

For more information : click here.

Wielkopolska Transformation In Transportation

The public transport network in the Wielkopolska region of Poland is set to receive massive investment, with a substantial part of funding coming from the EU. The main beneficiaries will be the cities of Konin and Leszno and the areas surrounding them.

​Konin will buy eight low-emission buses, build 8.4 km of bicycle lanes, create bike and ride interchanges with public transport stops, and put up electronic information boards. In seven municipalities surrounding the city, 23.6 km of bicycle routes will be built and 7 new interchange points constructed.

​In Leszno, 8 new buses will be added to the city’s fleet. The city’s transport operator will also introduce a city travel card and rebuild an existing and build a new bus depot.

Read more :  here.

4th Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility

This year’s conference of sustainable urban mobility is organized in Skiathos island on 24-25 May 2018 by the University of Thessaly, Department of Civil Engineering, Traffic, Transportation and Logistics Laboratory.

​The theme of this year’s Conference is: Data Analytics: Paving the way to sustainable urban mobility.

The main aim of the Conference is the dissemination of knowledge and the exchange of good practices among researchers and practitioners in the domain of urban transportation.

The thematic areas of the conference are:

• ​Data-driven infrastructure management
• Transport data and analytics
• Big data and transport modelling
• Big data in transport system optimization
• Social networks and traveller behavior
• Traffic emissions and environmental impacts
• Public transport and demand responsive systems
• City logistics systems
• Application of big data technologies in transport
• Data security and legal issues

Apply here.

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of Prato, Italy

Prato, with a population of 191,000 inhabitants and a density of about 2,000 inh /km2, is Tuscany's second largest city; it lies 15 km north-west of Florence, in the center of a densely populated and highly industrialized plain.

Prato’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan has been the first drawn- up and  approved sustainable urban mobility plan in Tuscany and one of the first in Italy. Prato’s Sustainable and Urban Mobility Plan took as reference methodology the EU guidelines. It outlines the vision of mobility in the city for the next decade.

​Prato’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan has been recently approved and first actions are currently under implementation. However, the ex-ante assessment of the Plan forecasted the range of effects that are (by 2025): - a 20% decrease in overall distance covered by private vehicle. The Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan process has been widely based on citizen, association and stakeholder. Over 1,500 people participated and answered to the on- line survey aiming to detail urban and regional mobility demand.

​For more information: click here.