This year’s EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2020 theme emphasizes the importance of accessibility to zero-emission transport and promotes an inclusive framework which involves everyone.

Watch out for car-free streets, interactive workshops and walking tours in towns and cities from over 40 countries from 16 to 22 September. This is the 19th year of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK and its well-known car-free day. Streets will close for motorised traffic, and allow pedestrians, cyclists, e-scooter riders, hoverboarders and more to roam freely in the city.

This event provides a unique opportunity for local governments in Europe to enable its residents to test out different active mobility models and discover the many benefits of other forms of sustainable transportation.

In addition, in cooperation with the event, the European network of road traffic police forces (ROADPOL) is organizing a campaign for road safety – the ROADPOL Safety Days. During the campaign, police forces will record the number of road fatalities on 17 September, their aim is zero deaths. Public events will emphasize the role of every road-user to reduce and avoid fatalities, as well as the traffic police’s importance in enforcing rules and working towards the EU’s ‘Vision Zero’ which is zero road deaths or serious injuries in Europe by 2050.

EU Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean said: “This year is a big challenge for our towns and cities. But the pandemic also showed us that people appreciate and expect our cities to become safer, cleaner and accessible to all. During this week and beyond, our partner cities from all around Europe will show how greener and more digital European towns and cities could look like.” Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, towns and cities have maximum flexibility when participating. Local authorities can register their events and infrastructure initiatives, but can also provide online alternatives, and measure to help people moving around safely.

Participation

Besides towns and cities, participation by others is early encouraged, such as NGOs, schools and higher education institutions and businesses. All are welcome to register their MOBILITYACTION all year round.

Local authorities can apply for several awards in context with EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK:

• EU Urban Road Safety Award, rewarding for innovative measures to improve road safety. The registrations are open from 29 September to 31 October 2020.
• EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards, for local authorities, who make efforts to promote sustainable urban mobility during the campaign. The call for applications is open from 29 September to 31 October 2020.
• SUMP Award is presented to local and regional authorities that accomplished great achievements in sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP). The deadline for registrations is 31 October 2020.

If you are a city, register for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2020 here.

If you are an NGO, Business, or School, you can register to the MOBILITYACTION here.

For more information click here.

Source: EC DG Mobility and Transport

This year’s EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2020 theme emphasizes the importance of accessibility to zero-emission transport and promotes an inclusive framework which involves everyone. Watch out for car-free streets, interactive workshops and walking tours in towns and cities from over 40 countries from 16 to 22 September. This is the 19th year of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK and its well-known car-free […]

The City of Rome is the capital of Italy and the 5th biggest city in Europe after Moscow, Istanbul, London and St. Petersburg and currently the largest one in the European Union. The Municipality IX EUR of the City of Rome, directly involved in the ELVITEN project is an administrative unit in the south of the town, with an extension of 183 Km2 is the second largest municipality characterized by the presence of protected natural areas and the city business center (EUR).

What is your task and responsibility in the ELVITEN project?

Rome has been one of the six pilot cities which carried out the one-year demonstration with e-bikes (Le1a category). For the first time, the city could test these new “vehicles” that were never matriculated before in Italy.  And thanks to ELVITEN we had the chance to involve in the test more ten different public and private bodies whose employees became ELVITEN users of internal bike-sharing services. The Municipality managed the long-term loan schemes for the bodies involved by keeping the direction of the project. This is a service normally managed by a private provider or by a public-private partnership. Having no local partners involved in the project, we did everything ourselves and this increased the knowledge and skills of the employees who worked in ELVITEN. As demonstrative city we organized public meetings and workshops to raise awareness among citizens on the project implementation and have run an internal office to provide information on the service to the users.

What is your interest in joining the ELVITEN project?

In the last four years the city of Rome has dedicated much efforts to promote and support the urban sustainable mobility in different ways, by promoting new systems of city bike-sharing managed by private companies, approving the first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of the City of Rome (SUMP) and the first City Plan for the electric mobility of Rome, constructing new cycling paths and finally hosting for the first time in Italy the Formula E Prix, that since the 2018 is held in the area of the EUR (in the Municipality IX EUR). This important event has been also organized in 2019 but suspended in 2020 for Covid-19 related problems. Nevertheless, thanks to an agreement between the City of Rome and the FIA the Formula E Prix will be organized for the next 5 years (2021-2025). Rome is turning electric and ELVITEN project has represented a local example to reiterate this concept contributing to sensitize residents and commuters to use ELVs as alternative mode of transport to ICE vehicles more polluting and less healthy for people. We wanted to be part of ELVITEN since we want to be part of this important shift.

What is your opinion on Electric-Light Vehicles?

Initially, ELVs remained cut out of the planning measures for sustainable mobility since most of the interventions approved had been thought to increase the use of Local Public Transport (creation of new trolleybus routes), bicycles (realization of cycling routes) and electric private vehicles (installation of fast charge). Thanks to ELVITEN project we have realized that the Light Electric Vehicles could be an important resource for sustainable mobility, yet not very much known until users from different bodies decided to use the e-bikes of ELVITEN. These vehicles may give a strong contribution to reduce CO2 emission and increase the sharing mobility in our city but need the suitable measures for the creation of useful infrastructures and the necessary services to spread on a city level. Measures that ELVITEN has been identifying through the creation of guidelines for planning authorities, service providers and manufacturers. We’d like to push further our ambition and propose a specific mobility plan for the ELVs to be integrated into the existing plans approved by the city of Rome for mobility: SUMP and Electric Mobility Plan.

Could you explain the impact of EL-Vs on urban mobility? 

The use of 60 e-bikes in a city like Rome with 2,8 million of inhabitants and approximately another millions of commuters coming to work in the City on a daily basis, can’t be significant in terms of generalized reduction of pollutants but it is important that, in a specific Municipality of the city, many important organizations such as Ministries, Public Agencies and SMEs participated to the project. Both at individual and company level, the project was a great success: a novelty that fascinated users and their colleagues. The pilot of Rome, behind the over 7.600 trips made and the over 38.000 Kms travelled, has indicated an orientation of the local administration on Light Electric Mobility that should also be followed by the numerous bodies that are located in our territory and that have the same need we do have for collective and sustainable mobility.

What do you think about the future market for urban mobility?

The market uptake of ELVs has yet to come because important shifts have to be made to the existing urban planning facilities but the path towards the use of these vehicles has begun and the innovation technology will help to accelerate this process soon.

This is a new interview, as part of ELVITEN interview series, in which we present ELVITEN partner – the Municipality IX EUR of the City of Rome, their role and contribution to the project implementation, as well as their view on Light EVs, and urban mobility. Enjoy the reading! A short introduction of your organisation […]

Elena Cosso from T Bridge S.p.A, presented the “Recommendations for Planning authorities emerged after COVID-19” to the webinar participants. She explained the recommendations suggested to planning authorities in the report. The recommendations are focused on different criteria such as safety, user habits, regulation policies, partnership with private operators, technological tools & sustainability. You can view the report here.

The webinar later concluded with an interactive question & answer session.

You can watch the webinar recording below.

On 1 September 2020, ELVITEN project partners organised a webinar “Experiences and recommendations for EL-Vs usage in urban environments in pre and post COVID -19 era”  to discuss and understand the COVID-19’s impact on e-mobility along with some recommendations for EL-Vs usage in urban environments. During the webinar, Silvia Campailla from Comune di Genova, introduced […]