CIVITAS Renaissance - Sustainable urban mobility planning

Challenge

Civitas Renaissance aims to bring about a step change in innovative and sustainable clean urban transport solutions through an integrated package of mobility measures. The project is a consortium of 29 organisations and represents an investment of 23 million Euros.

The cities participating in the project are known worldwide for their historic city centres and welcome a high volume of visitors. This puts pressure on an already taxed transport system, particularly during peak tourist seasons. They need to serve central urban areas that are characterised by a layout of narrow streets, so inevitably public, private and freight transport compete for space. They also face the challenge to ensure economic vitality and employment, while maintaining a high-quality, safe and environmental-friendly public environment.

Solution

In order to provide a road map for how sustainable mobility can be achieved, we explored a number of initiatives including:

• Developing Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans
• Alternative fuelled vehicles
• Public transport integration and new modes
• Demand management measures (limited traffic zones and parking strategy)
• Alternatives to car ownership and use (pooling, sharing)
• Goods redistribution and new modes of goods mobility in pipe systems
• ITS traffic management and priority systems
• Travel awareness and behaviour change
• Safety measures

Impact

The project has had numerous benefits for European city authorities and developers, encouraging best practice in their policies and plans for everyone’s benefit.