EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK News

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The importance of clean mobility: an interview with the Czech Republic’s National Coordinator

28 June 2023

Dominica Tchaou is looking forward to her second year as the National Coordinator for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK in the Czech Republic. She works for the Ministry of Environment and has embraced a quick learning curve to join the Europe-wide campaign to promote sustainable and active mobility. While challenges remain, Dominica is excited to encourage people to step out of their comfort zone to travel actively and sustainably, and to advocate clean mobility solutions.

2022 was actually your first year as a National Coordinator. Do you have any examples of activities that stood out to you during your first ever EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK?

We have a lot of people and stakeholders participating, including companies and NGOs. One of the programmes that I really liked was “Bike to Work,” which is a month-long team challenge in May for companies and organisations. This project aims to motivate people to commute to work using active mobility. Last year, almost 25,000 people participated! I also liked “Walk to School,” which is organised by an NGO to encourage safe school zones and get kids and parents walking to school. We can actually already see some impacts from the “Walk to School” campaign as some of the participating schools have decided to permanently establish school streets that are now always closed to motorised vehicles from 7:30 - 8:30 in the morning. In 2022, 306 schools in 168 municipalities participated, impacting over 70,000 children.

That is fantastic! As you know, one of the issues we hope to bring awareness to is the role of sustainable, active travel in mitigating pollution. In Europe, at least 1 in 5 people are exposed to noise levels that are considered harmful to their health. How can sustainable mobility help to reduce noise pollution?

As part of the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan, we have a target for 2030 to reduce the share of people chronically disturbed by traffic noise by 30%. However, we are not progressing as much as we should and this may be because the amount of individual transport is increasing. Obviously, we would like to make the opposite the case, not only to fulfil goals at the European level, but to improve quality of life at the local level.

So what are some solutions? Well, one of them is creating low-emission zones in urban areas. This can instantly reduce noise levels and helps reduce air pollution. We are now trying to revise regulations for low-emission zones in the Czech Republic. We have incorporated them into our Air Protection Act and are improving the system so that municipalities will implement them.

When we discuss the problem of noise, electric mobility is a better alternative because the car engines are quieter. But we also need to consider the tire-pavement noise which level increases alongside with the speed of a vehicle. That’s one of the reasons why low-speed zones can be really helpful, especially in the residential areas.

Alongside noise pollution, air pollution remains cause for concern. According to the European Environment Agency, air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe. How are you working to introduce clean mobility solutions into the current infrastructure?

We have one national policy framework that puts everything into a single package: the National Action Plan for Clean Mobility. The Ministry of Environment is one of the ministries that is responsible for achieving these targets. The plan is currently being updated based on new Regulation for the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure (AFIR), so now we need to actualise the policies and measures that are necessary to ensure mandatory targets are reached. The plan will also contain objectives regarding public transport, car-sharing and non-engine vehicles, like e-cargo bikes, and support measures such as financial support, awareness-raising and education.

Furthermore, we implemented The Concept of Urban and Active Mobility, as a strategy for walking and cycling and a methodological document for towns and cities to facilitate the development and updating of their SUMPs.

It seems like clean mobility is a key area for the Ministry. Why is it so important?

We are aware of the situation with the climate and that we need to take action to adapt and decrease emissions. In the Czech Republic, we need to urgently make progress and to replicate successful mobility solutions that are being used across Europe, like what we saw in Ghent (Belgium) for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards ceremony.

As I see it, the car has a specific position in society and some people are still really attached to it. We need to make people understand that we don’t want to take their cars away to make their lives harder, but that we can actually make their lives better with sustainable and clean mobility, especially in the long term. And, to make this statement credible, we must support people by providing a sufficient amount of alternative transport modes.

Recently, the Minister of Environment decided that our Ministry will only add clean vehicles to its fleet from now on. By embracing clean transport, the Ministry hopes to set an example and encourage the adoption of more sustainable practices.

For more information about the upcoming EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, take a look here.

Prioritising collective mobility: an interview with Poland’s National Coordinator

31 May 2023

Maria Perkuszewska has coordinated EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK in Poland for the past seven years at the Ministry of Infrastructure. During her time as National Coordinator, she has helped the campaign grow - last year 242 Polish cities participated - and even continued to promote safe, sustainable and active mobility solutions throughout the height of the pandemic. We spoke to Maria about improving public transport services and the inherent connection between accessibility and sustainability.

Sustainable mobility has the power to improve transport in towns, cities and beyond, including for children. What do you think it means to move sustainably?

Maria: When we speak about sustainable transport or sustainable mobility, we have to think about what it means for something to be sustainable. We often understand ‘sustainable’ to mean using resources in the most efficient way. When mobility is sustainable, it means it uses energy in a clean way and that it is not harming the environment or climate excessively. Sustainability should also be inclusive and sustainable development must be accessible to all.

We see all transport modes as part of sustainable mobility, but each mode has its own features that should be used in a sustainable way. When we are talking about urban transport, the most sustainable way of moving around the city is, of course, public transport or active mobility. Good public transport is one that is frequent, efficient, reliable, safe and convenient for passengers. Then passengers are happy to use it. Public transport is sometimes the only way to get around or be active in society for those who do not have their own car. That's why one of the goals of the Ministry of Infrastructure is to combat traffic exclusion and thus improve public transport offerings.

It's very important to educate children about sustainable ways to move. Then, when you have a small errand to run, the first choice will be to go on foot, to bike, or to run some errands using public transport. You don't have to always use a car.

Do you have some examples of what different cities or towns are doing in Poland to make it easier for people to use public transport or easier for kids to, for example, walk or cycle to school?

Maria: I would first mention one thing: in Poland, we have a strategic document for transport, which is called the Strategy for Sustainable Transport Development 2030. In this document, we have defined some priority areas, one of which is changes in individual and collective mobility. We have defined some actions that have to be undertaken in order to make transport in Poland more sustainable.

When it comes to what you are asking, a lot of cities in Poland introduced the campaign “Rowerowy Maj”. During the month of May, a month when in Poland there is usually nice weather and kids can bike to school or use scooters, there is a competition between kids, between schools or between different groups to travel sustainably to school. It became very popular in many cities. Some of the cities even organise this campaign for adults, namely for people that commute to work. Some cities, such as Gdynia and Katowice, offer prizes in this competition.

What do you see as the biggest challenges to encouraging people to use sustainable mobility or make active mobility choices?

Maria: I would say that people are creatures of habit. We think the biggest challenge is changing behaviour; to convince people that, from time to time, they can use different modes of transport, they can try something new. The statistics are there: a lot of car trips are very short and actually could be replaced with other mobility modes, either on foot, public transport or by bike. I think that the biggest challenge is to convince people that there are options other than a private car, but the second challenge is to provide them with these options because we cannot create, for example, a car-free zone and not have relevant alternatives. If you want to close a street or some part of the city to cars, you need to give people who use them the possibility of reaching their destination other than by car. That’s either public transport or bike infrastructure, or facilities to park their cars outside the closed zone. If you want people to commute to work by public transport, the public transport has to be reliable, frequent, safe and comfortable.

Unfortunately, I think the pandemic negatively impacted the sustainability of transport because for many months public transport faced restrictions regarding the number of passengers. A lot of people were afraid to use public transport because they were afraid of becoming ill. Polish data shows that public transport is slowly recovering from the pandemic, which is a challenge for all organisers of this type of transport.

As you say, it sounds like people had health concerns about using public transport during the height of the pandemic. Looking to the future, do you have any exciting developments for 2023?

Maria: We have good practices on how to support cities for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, including the distribution of promotional items and helping them register. Recently, we finished one of our reforms for a resilience plan for Poland, which is also related to Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). We continue to support and encourage cities to create SUMPs. We also have some targets for the upcoming years, and right now we are supporting 46 cities in developing SUMPs. We are providing technical support and our experts are working with the cities on these documents. In Poland, we are seeing that the sustainable approach to mobility is becoming more common. All of the 16 regional capitals are finishing their SUMPs for the functional areas, so we are really excited about this because I think that everything starts with a good plan. If you have a good plan, you can move forward and build on this.

Every year, more Polish cities join the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK campaign. We plan to continue this tradition and support them in promoting sustainable mobility.

Want to learn if your town or city participates in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK? Take a look here.

 

Rethinking road safety to reduce fatalities

17 May 2023

Over 20,000 lives were lost on EU roads in 2022. Almost half of those were pedestrians, cyclists and people travelling by scooter or motorbike. In order to achieve Vision Zero - the European Commission’s goal to reduce road fatalities to zero by 2050 - we need to rethink road safety and mobility.

According to the Commission’s most recent data, 52% of road traffic fatalities occur on rural roads, 39% in urban areas and 9% on motorways. Within urban areas, vulnerable road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians, represent 70% of total fatalities. In fact, cyclists are the only road user group that has not experienced a drop in the number of fatalities over the last decade.

To significantly reduce these figures in the coming years and pave the way for a Europe with no road fatalities, we need to tackle all elements of the EU’s Safe System approach - safe infrastructure, safe vehicles, safe road use, safe speeds and better post-crash care. Sustainable and active mobility solutions are a key part of the equation: when prioritising active transport, including walking and cycling, and investing in clean public transport, it becomes clear that road safety is an intrinsic component of any mobility solution. For example, as part of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, 3,700 towns and cities have implemented new traffic regulations that support safe traffic circulation and create safer and more effective travel spaces for vulnerable users. Meanwhile, over 7,600 towns and cities have improved local infrastructure by building new footbridges, road crossings, wheelchair ramps and more, which, when correctly implemented, all improve road safety.

Because road safety and sustainable mobility are not mutually exclusive, the success of one often strengthens the effectiveness of the other. In addition to supporting local solutions, the European Commission also recently proposed updated requirements for driving licences and better cross-border enforcement of traffic rules. While bustling city centres are of major concern, the statistics reveal that rural roads are also deadly.

The proposed new driving licence rules are inspired by best practices in Member States and focus heavily on road safety. Measures include a zero tolerance rule on drinking and driving and adapting training to better prepare drivers for the presence of vulnerable users on the road. The EU is also proposing the first-ever digital driving licence that works across borders, which will allow for easier replacement, renewal and exchange.

With this Europe-wide update, we are one step closer to achieving Vision Zero. Nevertheless, long-term solutions in infrastructure are needed across Member States to protect vulnerable road users, especially in urban areas. And, there is really no excuse. Many measures require little investment and planning to implement. For example, 30 km h zones for pedestrians, new traffic signs and safety barriers. Measures that require more planning, such as better-integrated public transport, roundabouts and separate bicycle facilities, can be carried out in the near future. Regardless of the solution, there are many options for towns and cities to begin creating safer streets for all today.

For more information about permanent measures implemented as part of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK campaign, visit our Impact page.

Choose sustainably: Finland’s National Coordinators underline the importance of mobility habits

24 April 2023

In 2022, Finland broke its personal record for the number of towns and cities that participated in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK. We sat down with Jenni Marsio, Finland’s National Coordinator, and Anni Hytti from Finland’s Transport and Communications Agency, to discuss their ambitions for the upcoming year, strategies for improving sustainable mobility in smaller towns (hint: trip-planning and electric bicycles!) and what they think of the 2023 theme ‘Save Energy.’


The theme for 2023 is ‘Save Energy,’ which is something that Finland also focused on in 2022. How can sustainable and active mobility help people save energy and reduce the use of fossil fuels in their daily lives?

Anni: I would say that active travel is actually the key to sustainable mobility, and energy saving as well. I think the challenge, at least for us, is to get people to move actively because there are quite a lot of people who still rely on their car, even for shorter journeys. That’s a real issue, I think. So active mobility is probably one of the key things. Really, whatever you do for sustainability and active [travel] modes is a good thing and helps in this matter.

There is also the Clean Vehicle Directive, which requires public transport organisations, and other organisations that do public procurement, to procure cleaner vehicles, so that public transport continues to become cleaner all the time. Electric vehicles are more energy efficient as well and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

In Finland, many people live in smaller towns or rural areas. For people who do not have direct access to public transport or need to travel greater distances, how can they travel more sustainably and save energy?

Jenni: This is of course something that we have discussed a lot when planning the campaign because some of the messages that work really well in bigger cities might not work in smaller cities. At the same time, of course, we have to remember that also in Finland urbanisation is happening and more people are moving to cities or to city-like environments, where they have access to public transport or they actually live so close that they can walk or take the bike. But there are areas where it's still a challenge and we have some recent studies that indicate that electric bikes might be helpful.

Anni: Yes, definitely. Not the most remote areas, though. That’s always a challenge, and there you have to plan how you move around so that you can make fewer trips. But in places where the distances are 10-20 kilometres, electric bikes offer a good solution, or at least help people move around. We are still in the process of writing the research, but we do have some results that actually support the idea that if you get an electric bike, you can give up your car for shorter journeys. Usually it's more fun to move around with an electric bike and it's easier because you don't have to think about parking so much and you can still easily carry quite a lot of stuff. Also, when you live in an environment where you have a lot of hills or if your commute is 20 kilometres, you probably don't want to do that with a regular bike because you sweat a lot and so on, but with an electric bike it’s already a possibility.

Jenni: I think what (Anni) said in the beginning is really important: planning a bit more, thinking about car-sharing, combining trips. This behaviour can help a lot!

Definitely! EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is all about encouraging people to make more sustainable travel choices that make sense for them. What are the challenges to moving sustainably in Finland? What solutions have you seen that have been successful, both in big city centres and smaller towns?

Anni: One of the biggest challenges, as we’ve already mentioned, is changing habits and traditions. If you own a car, which many people do, and it’s just sitting there in your front yard, you are quite prone to using it. We have to unlearn using the car, especially for short distances. If you live somewhere and you have a supermarket that is 1.5 kilometres away, you may tend to take the car because it seems so easy. So, we have to find ways to encourage people to leave the car at home and walk or take the bike to the supermarket, for example. Because people have already made an investment in the car, people feel the need to use it as much as possible.

Jenni: We were discussing what has already worked well and there already are so many cities in Finland that are doing a lot for sustainable mobility in their infrastructure, by doing actions such as building new bike paths and creating plans for the future, not only in larger southern cities like Tampere and Helsinki, but also in northern cities like Oulu, which has such a good reputation for giving people the possibility to travel sustainably. Even the smaller cities are quite excited about the topic and even if they have not done so much already, they have created nice plans for the future.

Anni: One thing we should probably add too, is that one of the challenges is how you plan areas. Quite recently, there was research published in Finland about how children move in their daily lives, and how fit they are. What we can see over the years is that children’s fitness is declining and one of the reasons could be the fact that many kids are taken to school by cars these days, especially because schools are more spread out. This has to do with city cross-sectoral planning, infrastructure and ensuring that people can access the things they need.

What do you have in store for the 2023 campaign?

Jenni: Well, I think we were quite excited last year because we got a record number of cities to participate. And, as you know, we already had this topic last year of ‘save energy’ which was a huge topic in all of Finland and people seemed to really like it. So, we are still excited about that and obviously this year will still want to continue because we’ve proved that it works, it’s interesting and it’s really timely. Now we are aiming for even more cities. We want to break the record!

To learn more about EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK and if your town or city participates, click here.

An invisible threat: how sustainable mobility can help reduce noise pollution in cities

4 April 2023

Noise is the second largest environmental health threat in Europe. At least one in every five Europeans is exposed to noise levels that are harmful to their health.

With 20% of the EU population experiencing excessive noise levels, the most disruptive of which come from road, rail and air traffic, sustainable and active mobility offer key solutions to help combat this invisible health hazard.

Cities and towns across Europe struggle with the toll noise pollution takes on residents’ daily lives. Data from the European Environment Agency identifies Paris as one of Europe’s noisiest cities: more than 5.5 million people suffer due to noise that exceeds 55 decibels; 432,000 French residents take tranquillisers to cope with it. Meanwhile, 2.6 million people in London and 1.7 million people in Rome are exposed to disruptive levels of noise.

In addition to the myriad short and long-term health risks exacerbated or created by noise pollution, including increased blood pressure, problems focusing, insomnia and cardiovascular issues, the cost of noise comes with a heavy price tag. A report from CE Delft estimates that the social cost of road traffic noise in Europe is between 30 - 46 billion euros per year, representing approximately 0.4% of total GDP.

So, what is being done to mitigate this unseen threat to our health?

The European Environmental Noise Directive is designed to help cities identify, and reduce, noise pollution levels. Relevant authorities are also encouraged to join the Green City Accord to achieve better compliance with pollution-prevention laws, including the Environmental Noise Directive.

Local and national governments are also developing targeted Noise Plans to address pollution levels, such as Paris’ Plan Bruit which introduced numerous sustainable mobility solutions, including the installation of sound barriers, roadside noise checks and low-noise asphalt. In addition, the plan supports the French capital’s ongoing efforts to minimise car traffic in the city centre and expand cycling networks, while banning the most polluting vehicles.

Sustainable and active mobility solutions are an integral part of less noisy environments. As part of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, thousands of towns and cities across Europe have implemented permanent measures that reduce car speeds, especially around school zones, which is also an effective measure for reducing traffic noise. The extension or creation of green areas is another holistic solution to tackle both noise and air pollution, and as part of the campaign, over 3,600 new greenways have been constructed.

While noise pollution may not be the most obvious issue cities have to confront to improve quality of life for residents, it is an important part of people’s daily lives and can significantly impact wellbeing. Sustainable mobility solutions and active mobility choices, such as walking or cycling, can help reduce noise pollution and create environments that are more comfortable to live, work and play in.

Learn more about the impact of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK campaign and the permanent measures implemented by participating towns and cities, here.