The European Commission today announced the winners of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2017 and 6th Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) at a ceremony in Brussels (Belgium).

Vienna was named the winner of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2017 for larger municipalities, with Igoumenitsa revealed as the inaugural winner of the newly added category for smaller municipalities. The 6th Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) was presented to Turda (Romania).

The awards were presented to the cities by Commissioner Violeta Bulc, responsible for Transport, and Daniel Calleja, Director-General for Environment.

Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: “My congratulations to each of the award winners. Through their actions, these cities are not only creating a more sustainable Europe, but are helping their residents to move around in a cleaner, healthier and more enjoyable way. It is my hope that by selecting these cities, their actions will inspire others to embrace the core message of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK – sustainable mobility is the right choice for everyone.”

Vienna, home to around 1.8 million people, impressed the jury with its outstanding programme of activities during EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, which reflected a firm understanding of the theme of the 2017 campaign - Clean, shared, and intelligent mobility. Among other activities, residents of Vienna were able to rent cargo bikes free of charge, take guided walks through different city neighbourhoods, and join an urban picnic on a street previously reserved for vehicles.

The city of Igoumenitsa took home the honour for its exemplary work in communicating the benefits of sustainable mobility to residents, including those who live in nearby small towns. Residents could avail of free transfer by bus at selected times, take part in cycling events held along the city's coastal front, and join a cultural hike through the forest.

The Romania city of Turda was presented with the 6th SUMP Award for its clear planning vision, robust financing strategy, and measurable targets. The jury noted the replicability of the strategy and its potential to inspire other similarly-sized cities.

Vienna, Igoumenitsa and Turda were selected by an independent panel of mobility and transport experts and will each receive a promotional video highlighting their achievements.

For more information, read the press release.

The European Commission today revealed the finalists of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award and the Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP). The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award showcases local authorities that demonstrate significant efforts in promoting sustainable urban mobility, while the SUMP Award recognises outstanding sustainable urban mobility planning.

The finalists for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2017 are: Granada (Spain), Prague (Czech Republic), and Vienna (Austria).

Granada impressed the judges with its Car-Free Day celebrations, coupled with a widespread communication campaign that incorporated advertisements on public transport. Prague excelled in creating mutually beneficial partnerships with NGOs and local businesses during the week, while Vienna carried out a diverse programme of activities that closely reflected the 2017 theme – ‘Clean, shared and intelligent mobility’.

For the first time, a category for towns and cities with under 50,000 inhabitants has been included as part of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award, recognising the sustainable mobility achievements of smaller cities in Europe. The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2017 finalists for municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants are: Igoumenitsa (Greece), Lindau (Germany), and Tivat (Montenegro).

Igoumenitsa scored well thanks to its strong efforts to communicate the benefits of sustainable mobility to residents and also those who live in nearby towns. Lindau implemented impressive permanent measures, including repurposing parking spaces, while the judges praised Tivat for its citizen engagement activities.

This edition of the SUMP award focused on shared mobility in the planning process.

The 6th SUMP Award finalists are: Greater Manchester (United Kingdom), Milan (Italy), and Turda (Romania).

Greater Manchester was lauded for its progressive vision, high ambition and exemplary cooperation with the private and non-profit sectors. Milan was praised for stakeholder involvement when designing its SUMP and for its work to introduce a Mobility as a Service platform that brings together apps across transport modes to facilitate shared mobility. Turda was commended by the jury for its clear and inspiring planning vision, including a well-structured financing strategy.

All shortlisted cities were selected by an independent panel of mobility and transport experts.The three winners will be announced at a ceremony in Brussels (Belgium) on 21 March 2018. Commissioner Violeta Bulc, responsible for Transport, and Daniel Calleja, Director-General for Environment, will present the awards to the winning towns and cities.

For more information, click here.

Registration for the European Commission’s fifth conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), taking place in Nicosia (Cyprus) from 14-15 May, is now open.

The conference is Europe's leading annual event for all those involved in putting the SUMP concept into practice. It serves as a forum for policy makers and academics across Europe to network, debate key issues, and exchange ideas on sustainable urban mobility planning.

In light of the European Commission dedicating this year to the promotion of multimodality, the theme of this year's conference is multimodality, with a focus on the integration of transport modes and combined mobility solutions for passengers and freight in cities and regions.

The opening plenary session will be delivered by European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc. Attendance is free of charge, with representatives of local and regional authorities, policy makers, urban mobility planners, academics and other urban mobility professionals especially welcome.

For more information, click here.

A study published in ‘Preventive Medicine’ has found that expanding designated cycling networks in cities could provide considerable health and economic benefits.

The analysis, part of European Commission funded Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) project, of data from 167 European cities suggests that the length of cycling infrastructures is associated with a cycling mode share of up to 24.7 percent, in which 1 in every 4 citizens would choose the bicycle for their daily commuting.

The study, estimates that if all the assessed cities achieved a 24.7 percent bicycle mode share, over 10,000 premature deaths could be avoided annually.

“This is the first study evaluating the potential associations between cycling network length, mode share and associated health impacts across European cities”, states Natalie Mueller, ISGlobal researcher and first author of the paper.

The health impact assessment conducted showed that a routine shift in the transport mode to cycling is positive for health due to the associated increase in physical activity, “whose benefits outweigh detrimental effects of air pollution and traffic incidents”, adds Mueller.

For more information and to read the press release in full, click here.

On 13-14 December, the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction organised a workshop attended by EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK local campaigners. The aim of this meeting was to evaluate their participation in the latest campaign, which takes place every year from 16-22 September. In 2017, Poland experienced a significant increase in participation with 105 municipalities registering on www.mobilityweek.eu (250 percent more than the year before).

The European Secretariat of the campaign was represented by Juan Caballero, project coordinator at EUROCITIES, who explained the awards scheme and the partnership strategy.

The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards seek to recognise towns and cities that have shown excellence in the organisation of the campaign. In the last edition, five Polish municipalities applied for the award, which for the first time will present awards in two categories: one for smaller municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and the other for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. A list of previous winners and more information on the awards are available on the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK website.

It is not an easy task to prepare a successful award application. For this reason, the European Secretariat wished to give some tips and advice to the Polish municipalities interested in applying for the award (in its two categories). The secret is to link the programme of activities to the annual theme, provide participation figures, implement new permanent measures, set an ambitious target in terms of modal split, and carry out plenty of activities (including Car-Free Day) during the week of 16-22 September.

When political support and budget are lacking in the preparations of such a campaign, partnerships and citizen involvement can make a difference. Good partnerships are key to fulfilling a rich programme of activities. It is not a question of compiling a long list of partners, but to engage with relevant organisations. The municipalities participating in the meeting presented the different kind of partners they work with, ranging from sport clubs to libraries. The European Secretariat reminded them not to forget local business, big companies, and, of course, celebrities!

Around 30 local authorities attended this two-day workshop in Warsaw. For 2018, the Polish National Coordinator plans to organise similar events in the different regions of the country to help local campaigners get ready for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2018.