How can MaaS contribute to zero-emission mobility?

By integrating a wide range of transport services into a single mobility service accessible on demand, MaaS can provide mobility users with an alternative to the personally owned modes of transportation that may be equally convenient and even. Besides offering more flexible solutions to users, with MaaS schemes cities can optimise the use of existing transport capacity and thus lower vehicle usage, which consequently leads to less carbon dioxide emissions.

Within this session,  participants are taken on a journey to the cities of Brussels and Turku, which will share their experiences and discuss best practices of how MaaS can contribute to green mobility, also considering insights from all the stakeholders involved in the on-demand shared mobility value chain.

Panellists:

• Martin Lefrancq, Attaché, Bruxelles mobilité
• Stella Aaltonen, City of Turku
• Jacob Bangsgaard, CEO of ERTICO-ITS Europe and President of MaaS Alliance 

Moderated by Victoire Champenois, DG MOVE, European Commission

Funding and financing solutions for sustainable urban mobility

Building upon the high-level opening plenary in the morning, this session will go beyond the policy perspective looking at the various EU funding programmes and initiatives. It will shed light on upcoming calls, opportunities for financing and collaboration for cities and for innovative sustainable urban mobility.  

Invited speakers will discuss how in practice the various European instruments, like for example the Climate-neutral and Smart Cities mission, the Driving Urban Transition partnership, the EIT Urban Mobility, the European Investment Bank and the Digital Europe Programme, can help cities to innovate and improve their transport systems and become more sustainable and organized.

Panellists:

• Philippe Froissart, Deputy Head of Unit, DG RTD D2
• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Neil Valentine, EIB Head of Division, Sustainable Urban Mobility 
• ​​​​​​​Margit Noll, JPI Europe, Driving Urban Transition Partnership 
• ​​​​​​​Maria Tsavachidis, CEO, EIT urban mobility 
• ​​​​​​​Thibaut Kleiner, HoU, Digital Europe Programme, DG CNECT 

Moderated by Chiara Frencia, INOVA+

Health and zero-emission mobility policy

The European Environmental Agency  considers air pollution as the biggest environmental health risk in Europe, accountable for 400 000 premature deaths in Europe in 2016. Mobility itself can have harmful effects on the environment and citizens’ health – through congestion, accidents, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, enormous health benefits to the entire population can be attained if only citizens shift from private vehicles to public transport, walking and cycling. 

Active travel or active modes of transport such as walking and cycling can help prevent these deaths and contribute to reduced emissions. To reinforce these measures, health issues must be embedded in mobility policy, in particular in SUMP, which is still rarely the case. This session will feature initiatives dealing with the binomial health-mobility and its policy dimension.

Presenters:

• Francesco Dionori, UNECE, Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme
• Lucia Errandonea, Ideas for Change, CitieS-Health
• Fabiana Palmero, Councillor for Mobility, City of Vic. URBACT’s Healthy Cities Network
• Francesco Iacorossi, Rome Mobility Agency, HANDSHAKE

Moderated by Fred Dotter, Mobiel 21

Achieving change in mobility behaviour 

A strong modal shift from car to sustainable transport modes is key to make our urban areas more accessible and liveable. Are European cities on the right track? What are the factors influencing modal shift and the choice of transport modes? We know that long-lasting changes in mobility behaviour often follow life-changing moments. In that sense, could the coronavirus pandemic be an opportunity for transport and planning authorities to promote sustainable transport modes?

Drawing from leading EU-funded projects, academic research and local experiences on behavioural change and mobility, the session will present and discuss initiatives that are contributing to make the shift towards sustainable urban mobility behaviours a reality.

Panellists:

• Juan Caballero, EUROCITIES
• Giuliana Famiglietti-Pipola, City of Coventry, e-SMARTEC
• Frank L. Fiedler, City of Dresden
• Anna Nikolaeva, University of Amsterdam

Moderated by Ann-Marie Nienaber, Coventry University

Data-driven decision making tools for small and medium-sized cities

How can data analysis be used as a tool to improve mobility and transport in cities? What are the benefits of collecting real traffic data, and what tools do small and medium-sized cities have to make to design and implement sustainable mobility measures based on scientific evidence?

The session will shed some light on these crucial issues drawing on the experience of the EU-funded SUITS project. Attendees will get familiar with efficient and cheap technologies to collect mobility data in urban areas and discover new ways sustainable mobility measures can be designed building on data collection.

Cities that have successfully tested the technologies and realised the benefits of the data collection technologies within the SUITS project will share their first-hand experience. Furthermore, the session will also feature contributions from the EU-funded WeCount and MOMENTUM projects.

Panellists:

• Rodric Frederix, Transport & Mobility Leuven, MOMENTUM
• Giovanni Maccani, Ideas for Change, WeCount
• Miriam Pirra, Politecnico di Torino
• Fotis K. Liotopoulos, SBOING

Moderated by Frederic Rudolph, Wuppertal Institut, SUITS.

Integrating shared mobility services in urban mobility ecosystems

What policies, approaches and models can help cities govern the emergence of new mobility services and disruptive technologies, such as carsharing, bikesharing, e-scooter sharing and MaaS? In times of crisis, can the “disruptors” become essential partners to cities to keep mobility clean, sustainable and safe and avoid a shift to massive car use?

The panel debate will address these questions drawing on the experience of two leading EU-funded projects exploring innovative cooperation models between public and private parties on new mobility services. The session will also feature contributions from Brussels-based bike-sharing operator Billy and POLIS, the network of cities and regions for transport innovation.

Panellists:

• Karen Vancluysen, POLIS Network
• Yannick Bousse, UITP
• Pierre de Schaetzen, Billy Bike
• Diederik Basta, City of Amsterdam
• Aurélien Pozzana, BOLT

Moderated by Philippe Crist, International Transport Forum

Urban Vehicle Access Regulations, where do we stand?

Broadly defined as ‘measures to regulate motor vehicular access to urban infrastructure’, urban vehicle access regulations (UVARs) have proved to be a key tool to regulate traffic flows in urban areas and help cities comply with air quality legislation.

The session will provide an update of what is currently going on in the field of urban vehicle access regulations and related planning challenges, bringing together experts and policy makers from local authorities, academia, and research institutes.

Panellists:

• Sidharta Gautama, University of Gent, ReVeAL
• Suzanne Hoadley, POLIS Network, UVARbox
• Samantha Tharme, City of London
• Lotte Dijkink, Secretary General of BENELUX

Moderated by Isabelle Vandoorne, DG MOVE, European Commission

Affordable, accessible and inclusive mobility

Combining efforts to achieve more sustainable and efficient mobility systems whereby keeping them accessible, affordable, and inclusive is a massive challenge for cities. Designing transport systems that consider the specific mobility needs of the most vulnerable user groups is crucial. Improving accessibility for the elderly and people with reduced mobility, as well as providing high-quality services at affordable fares for all, is an essential task for transport authorities.

The session will explore how cities can improve mobility without leaving anyone behind, drawing on the experience of leading EU-funded research initiatives covering several aspects of transport accessibility and inclusivity.

Panellists:

• Kirstin Tovaas, Rupprecht Consult
• Imre Keseru, VUB
• Mathias De Meyer, Brussels Capital Region
• Delphine Grandsart, European Passengers' Federation

Moderated by Pedro Homem de Gouveia, POLIS Network.

The smart city as a sustainable city

Smart cities have the potential to make a significant contribution to urban sustainability. This session will kick-off with an introduction to the Sustainable Urban Mobility topic and the activities of the European Innovation Partnership for Smart Cities and Communities Action Cluster on Sustainable Urban Mobility (EIP-SCC SUM), with a clear focus on what smart cities will look like in the future. Following this initial presentation, panellists will discuss (also interacting with the audience) how can smart cities enable sustainability, covering several topics, such as the essential role of transport in a smart city and urban data platforms. 

Panellists:​​​​​​​

• Georg Houben, DG ENER 
• Anna Domenech, NISSAN Europe, Intelligent Mobility for Energy Transition
• Graham Colclough, UrbanDNA
• Edwin Mermans, Province of Noord-Brabant

Moderated by Ana Dragutescu, ICLEI

The role of smart parking management in urban mobility planning

Parking policy is recognised to be one of the most powerful keys to manage urban mobility. Good parking management can help to free up valuable public space, make our cities more attractive and resilient (as we noticed during COVID-19 pandemic), support the local economy, reduce vehicle traffic and congestion, improve road safety, and combat air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, parking management generates revenue to invest in sustainable mobility and urban and social improvements. 

The session aims to provide ideas and evidence on how smart parking management could develop, increase, and speed up innovative parking solutions to become part of cities’ SUMP or linked planning processes. 

Panellists:

• Laurens Bannerman, EPA
• Martina Hertel, DIFU
• Aitor Albaina Vivanco, Vitoria Gasteiz
• Carl Hanssens, Sint-Niklaas
• Giuliano Mingardo, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Moderated by Susan Tully, Edinburgh Napier University.

Regional and metropolitan mobility planning 

Metropolitan regions in Europe stand out for their economic attractiveness, the vast commuter flows, their complex and multi-modal urban transport systems, and for typically being transport nodes of European and national importance. 

Drawing on the experience of EU-funded projects REFORM and SUMPs-Up, the session will explore the challenges of planning for mobility services at the regional and metropolitan level. The session will feature the participation of some European regions that have applied government schemes to develop a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP).

Panellists:

• Vincent Leiner, DG REGIO, tbc
• Matilde Chinellato, EUROCITIES
• Václav Novotný, Prague Institute of Planning and Development
• Catarina Marcellino, Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
• Klemen Gostic, City of Ljubljana
• Jonathan Marsh, Transport for Greater Manchester

Moderated by Maria Morfoulaki, CERTH.

Challenges and opportunities for urban air mobility

How could urban air mobility services, such as drones, help cities address their mobility needs?? What is the current state of development for urban air mobility in Europe?

The session will discuss market development, policy and legislative aspects related to urban air mobility. The session will feature a contribution from the UAM Initiative - a multi-stakeholder initiative to accelerate the market uptake of urban air mobility services, increase public acceptance, and share innovative ideas – and the EU-funded project HARMONY, a EU-funded project exploring new mobility services, concepts and solutions to support the transition to a low-carbon new mobility era.

Panellists:

• Vassilis Agouridas, Airbus
• Małgorzata Darowska, Polish Ministry of Infrastructure
• Özhan Yilmaz, European Investment Bank
• Maria Karmargianni, Maas Lab, University College London

Moderated by Luana Bidasca, DG MOVE, European Commission

Infrastructure for walking, cycling and more

Safer, wider, and more secure infrastructure for walking and cycling is a prerequisite to encourage more people to opt for active mobility modes, reduce car use, and improve safety, air quality and the overall quality of life in urban areas. The rise of e-scooters and other micromobility services in European cities has made the need to redistribute road space to favour sustainable transport modes even more evident.

The session will be an opportunity to present and discuss infrastructure measures to promote sustainable urban mobility, featuring contributions from representatives from cities that are striving to become more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists.

Panellists:

• Alexander Frederiksen, DonkeyRepublic
• Aistė Lukaševičiūtė, City of Kaunas
• Martijn te Lintelo, Arnhem Nijmegen
• Christina Moe Gjerde, Voi

Moderated by Bronwen Thornton, Walk21.

Citizens Engagement for sustainable mobility

Urban mobility substantially benefits from active involvement processes. The on-the-ground reality is commonly complex and active engagement is difficult to attain as several constraints may occur (time restrictions, lack of participants and diversity regarding age, gender or ethnicity, etc). Diverse participation tools can help to involve many citizens and reach a wider spectrum of participants.  A dedicated strategy is needed for the involvement of citizens, drawing on different formats and techniques and aiming at sustainable mobility.

This session will focus on co-creation projects at the neighbourhood level, designed to raise awareness about urban mobility challenges and the promotion of sustainable and healthy mobility choices. The speakers will unveil case studies from their cities.

Presenters:

• Katie Parnell, Oxfordshire County Council, Cities4People
• Sami Sahala, City of Helsinki, MUV
• Michael Karampasis, Thessaloniki Public Transport Authority, SUNRISE
• Karl Reiter, Austrian Mobility Research FGM-AMOR, METAMORPHOSIS

Moderated by Andrea Arcelli INEA, European Commission

Mobility challenges in rural areas

The lack of effective public transportation in rural areas is still common and it negatively impacts social cohesion. Public transportation in these areas needs to cope with structural difficulties of low population densities, high car ownership and an ageing rural society. Moreover, with the on-going urbanisation trend, large cities will soon come to their extension limit and reinverting the flow of inhabitants to rural areas will be inevitable for them, which exacerbates the need to improve rural mobility. Nevertheless, rural areas are also characterized by a vibrant community life and strong voluntary engagement, which can play a key role in overcoming these challenges. This session will engage stakeholders to present mobility solutions for rural areas, with a special focus on best practices from three EU funded projects (Smart Rural, SMARTA and MAMBA).

Presenters:

• Lucia Cristea, EIP, SMARTA
• Edina Ocsko, C40, Smart Rural
• Mattias Landin, Region Värmand
• Kristine Malnaca, Vidzeme Planning Region, MAMBA

Moderated by Mans Lindberg, DG MOVE

The role of automated mobility in achieving zero-emission urban mobility

Shared automated vehicles can support overarching policy goals, provide a better quality of life for citizens and potentially revolutionise the movement of goods and people, particularly in urban areas. The most optimistic scenarios point to significant reductions in traffic, emissions, accidents and the need for parking spaces in urban settings. While the outlook is positive and captivating, steps forward must not compromise standards as social inclusion, environmental sustainability or traffic efficiency. To that effect, several initiatives and funded projects are paving the way for the introduction of automation in urban environments. 

This session will feature the CCAM (Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility) initiative, particularly in its role to support the European Commission with research, piloting, testing and deployment activities, as well as the Co-Exist project activities in Milton Keynes, related with traffic measures to be implemented to facilitate the arrival of CAVs. Additionally, SHOW and AVENUE projects will also unveil their pilots in Sweden and Switzerland respectively, dealing with the introduction of automated vehicles in public transport.

Presenters:

• Claire Depré, DG MOVE, EC CCAM
• Dimitri Konstantas, UNIGE, AVENUE
• Brian Matthews, City of Milton Keynes, CoExist
• Anna Anund, VTI, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, SHOW

Moderated by David Guedj, INEA, European Commission

Innovation and city design for urban road safety

This session will highlight the importance of innovation in improving urban road safety as well as the crucial role that city and urban design play in mitigating road transport injury burden at a global scale. While advances have been achieved in recent years to reduce accidents in cities and urban areas, progress is still far from satisfactory to European citizens. An Eurobarometer survey (2013) showed that 73% of European citizens consider road safety to be a serious problem in cities. To achieve the European Commission “Vision Zero”, i.e. reach a number of fatalities and serious road injuries close to zero, a concerted effort needs to be made. 

The session will engage experts on urban road safety from academia and the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC).

Presenters:

• Ellen Townsend, ETS
• Tom Brijs, University of Hasselt, iDREAMS
• Astrid Linder, VTI, VIRTUAL
• Dirk Engels, Transport & Mobility Leuven (TML)

Moderated by Wiebke Pankauke, DG MOVE