Apply now for the 7th SUMP Award on Multimodality

The 2018 SUMP (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans) Award on multimodality is now open for applications! The call for applications is open until 1 October 2018.

First introduced by the European Commission in 2012, the award helps showcase successful SUMP implementation and honours cities that are demonstrating excellence and raising the profile of SUMPs across Europe.

€245 million awarded to Horizon 2020 transport projects

Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) has signed grant agreements with 39 projects selected for funding under two Horizon 2020 calls - Mobility for Growth and Automated Road Transport respectively. They will receive a total of €243.8 million.

The projects are expected to use research and innovation on equipment and systems for vehicles, aircraft and maritime vessels that will make them smarter, cleaner, safer, and more automated. Projects will also focus on research on road users' safety, sustainable mobility in urban areas and "smart electric mobility" in cities, improvement of the logistics systems' performance, and resilience and optimization of transport infrastructure.

They are expected to start their activities by 1 September 2018 at the latest.

For more information click here

ELENA: supporting the deployment of sustainable and innovative urban mobility

ELENA (European Local Energy Assistance) provides grants for project development assistance to public and private project promoters. It has already awarded around €120 million of EU support triggering €4.7 billion of expected investments on the ground in 21 countries.

The facility was created by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the preparation of bankable, ambitious and large-scale investment programs in energy efficiency and distributed renewable energy.

Six transport projects are currently benefitting from €12.4 million from the ELENA facility. These projects are expected to generate a total investment of €511 million. The six projects were presented at the General Assembly of the European Innovation Partnership in Smart cities and communities in Sofia.

For more information click here

Romania receives its first ever emission-free battery buses

The Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca, according to the country’s commitment to reduce the air and noise pollution levels across their country, has received the country’s first order of emission-free battery vehicles.

The electric buses were purchased under the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme and it will be CTP Transport Company who will become the operator of the vehicles.

REFORM publishes Good Practices on sustainable mobility planning and SUMPs

The REFORM INTERREG project partners have collected Good Practices (GPs) on sustainable mobility planning and SUMPs (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans) from the four REFORM regions and beyond, in Europe. The 26 GPs are coming from nine EU countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden and UK).

New public transport app developed for child-specific needs

Berlin’s new application will encourage younger users to travel on public transport, whilst keeping them safe and informed. Based on the HaCon Kids App, which utilises child-friendly innovations, the new mobility app, ‘VBB jump’, presented by Berlin-Brandenburg public transport authority VBB, will begin helping a younger user group to travel from door to door – a first step toward safer travel for kids.

New business model for flexible mobility

The Flexible Mobility Centre, for planning and managing different transport services, is built upon the two axes of urban mobility: collective transport and flexible services. The center addresses the two main levels of urban mobility in a coordinated way, where both public (collective) and private components interact with each other: major transport axes and corridors on the one hand, and flexible/ride-sharing services on the other.