ITF: Multi-sector effort needed to decarbonise urban passenger transport

Urban passenger transport should become autonomous, shared and electric in order to bring down carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, says the International Transport Forum (ITF). But above all, multiple policy sectors need to be involved. The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) - affiliated think tank asked 36 experts about their views on the decarbonisation of urban passenger transport. Their key points are listed in the report Policy priorities for decarbonising urban passenger transport.

CIVITAS Awards 2018

The call has been launched for applications for this year's CIVITAS Awards! Towns and cities who are a CIVITAS Forum member can now submit their entries to win Europe's most prestigious prizes for clean urban transport. The submission deadline is 13 July 2018.

Applicants can win awards in four different categories:

• The "Bold Measure" Award for a daring and innovative approach that has yet to be widely implemented and positions the city as a pioneer in its respective thematic area;
• The “Take Up” Award for cities a city that has successfully have been successfully transferred from one city to another;
• The “CIVITAS Legacy” Award for a city that has successfully translated their inspiring and committed involvement in CIVITAS into long-term implementation of innovative measures with a high impact;
• The “Transformations” Award for significant transformation and progress towards a liveable and smarter city through an integrated set of mobility measures.

Award-winning activities are showcased to a European audience as examples of sustainable urban mobility excellence and promoted to the press. The Awards are presented each year during a ceremony at the CIVITAS Forum. The 2018 event is taking place in Umea, Sweden, from 19-21 September.

For more information click here

Elon Musk Talks About Bringing Autonomous Transport to Cities

Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, said that he is working on a self-driving vehicle that could replace buses and other public transport vehicles. Tesla Motors have already brought autonomous technologies to roads. Examples include the features of lane-changing and self-parking controls, which will be available on Model 3 of Tesla’s Model S and X. Musk also stressed the need to solve the high-density urban transport problem and even though he was not willing to provide more information, he stated that an idea exists for something that is not exactly a bus but would solve this problem.

For more information click 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.

Prague city prepares for the electric buses deployment on regular route

As part of the long-term emission reduction strategy, the Prague Transport Company has been testing for a year and a half SOR electric bus. This bus is operated on standard lines 163 and 213 and the total mileage from the start of traffic reached 100,000 km. Overall, it is one of the most successful European electric project. "The experience of previous electro-bus projects enables us to prepare the largest such project in the framework of the Prague Public Transport, bringing it to full electrification", said Jan Šurovský, Technical Director of the Prague Transport Company.

Based on the positive results of long-term testing, Prague Transport Company is preparing full-scale electrification of bus line 207, which connects Žižkov quarter with the central area of ​​the city. For this line, Prague Transport Company plans to purchase 14 standard (12 meter long) electric buses. Due to the need of the necessary charging infrastructure as well as the tender for the delivery of electric buses, the Prague Transport Company expects to start operating these electric buses in September 2018.

​For more information: click here.

CIVITAS SUMPs-Up project launches 1st call for planning authorities

CIVITAS SUMPs-Up is an EU-funded project with a focus on helping cities develop Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) - strategic long-term planning documents that integrate all transport modes and balance environmental, social and economic factors.

A SUMP's central goal is improving the accessibility of urban areas and providing high-quality and sustainable mobility and transport to, through and within the urban area. It regards the needs of the 'functioning city' and its hinterland rather than a municipal administrative region. The project assists mobility planning authorities, especially in countries where there are few SUMPs, to overcome the barriers that stop or make it difficult for them to implement the plans.

​The CIVITAS SUMPs-Up project is recruiting planning authorities for its Innovation Pilot Pool (IPP), a select group of transport and urban mobility planning practitioners who will develop innovative tools and services to help SUMP development in European cities. The current call seeks 40 participants for the Expert Group and 10 participants for the Leadership Group, who will participate for six months and three years respectively.The remaining 50 participants in the IPP scheme will be selected via similar calls for applications opening in 2018 and 2019.

Apply to the first CIVITAS SUMPs-Up call for planning authorities by 24 May 2017 here.

The European Commission is working closely with the Member States to ensure the SUMP concept is adapted to the specific requirements and existing planning practices in each Member State and actively promoted at national level in order to reach hundreds of cities in Europe.

For more information: click here.

Urban Transport Roadmaps Tool from DG Move

The urban transport roadmaps tool is a web-based tool to help city authorities develop urban transport roadmaps that address the most pressing environmental, social and economic issues faced by their transportation systems between now and 2030. The tool was launched in April 2016.

The tool provides cities with the ability to identify, develop, screen and assess different transport policies and measures. In particular, it helps cities to quickly and easily assess the likely costs and impacts of measures that could help them improve the sustainability of their transport systems. Cities can explore combinations of different policy scenarios and assess the impacts of these scenarios on the environment, safety, mobility, the economy and the city’s transport system. This type of scenario analysis helps cities to rapidly identify which policy measures are likely to be useful in supporting their own urban transport sustainability goals.

A key benefit of the tool is that users do not need any prior experience in transport modelling. The tool has been developed for DG Move by Ricardo Energy & Environment and Trasporti e Territorio.

For more information: click here.