Rethinking urban mobility involves optimising the use of the entire variety of modes of transport and organising a co-modality between different types of public transport (train, tram, metro, bus) and of individual transport (cars, bicycle, walking). It also involves achieving common objectives in terms of economic prosperity managing transport demand to guarantee mobility, quality of life and environmental protection. Lastly, it involves reconciling freight transport and passenger transport interests whatever the mode of transport used.
The challenge facing urban areas in the context of sustainable development is immense: that of reconciling the economic development of towns and cities and accessibility with improving the quality of life and with environmental protection, on the other. In order to address these issues, which have many and varied implications, a joint effort will make it possible to encourage the search for innovative and ambitious urban transport solutions with a view to arriving at a situation where towns and cities are less polluted and more accessible and where traffic within them flows more freely.Experiences from stakeholders show that there is no single solution to reduce congestion.
European towns and cities are confronted with a constant increase in freight and passenger flows. However, there are substantial limits to the development of the infrastructure needed to cope with this increase, as a result of a lack of space and environmental constraints. Against this background, stakeholders have highlighted that Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) applications are currently underexploited for the efficient management of urban mobility, or are developed without due attention to interoperability.
One of the critical success factors for mobility in urban networks is, for travellers, to be able to make informed choice on mode and time for travel. This relies on availability of user-friendly, adequate and interoperable multi-modal trip information for planning a journey.
Stakeholders indicate that ITS allows a dynamic management of existing infrastructure. Additional capacity in excess of 20-30% or more can be gained by more effective use of road space. This is particularly important since there is usually little scope to provide additional road space in urban areas. The active management of urban transport infrastructures can also have a positive impact on safety and the environment. A particular area for ITS could be the management of seamless connections between networks at the urban-interurban interface.
According to stakeholders, there is insufficient attention to co-modality and a lack of integrated collective transport solutions, such as suburban railway systems, tram-train systems, and well-located Park&Ride facilities at collective transport terminals in the outskirts of towns and cities.
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