Discussion with Partnership for Urban Mobility
Members of the URBAN Intergroup had a chance to discuss with members of the Partnership for Urban Mobility of the Urban Agenda on the 9th of October at the European Parliament in Brussels. This breakfast meeting was an occasion for the representatives of the Partnership to present the results of their work ahead of the adoption of their Action Plan. Members of the Partnership called for the reinforcement of multi-level cooperation and governance and better uptake of sustainable urban mobility planning.
In the area of public transport, an evaluation of best practices in facilitating access to public transport and a scaling up of innovative clean busses were underlined. The Partnership advocated for the development of active modes of transport and the use of public space: it prescribed to develop guidelines on infrastructure for an active mobility supported by relevant funding, by promoting sustainable and active mobility behaviour and finally by reducing the diversity of Urban Vehicle Access Regulations. Moreover, members of the Partnership argued that there is a need to explore the development of New Mobility Services and to set up a European framework for fostering urban mobility innovation.
“What surprises me is that your actions are very concrete! You are, as practitioners, a part of the European project and you deal with the core problems that the EU cities must tackle” – said during the discussion Lambert van Nisterlooij (EPP, the Netherlands), Vice-President of the URBAN Intergroup. Dr Frank Mentrup, Lord Mayor of Karlsruhe, underlined that “urban mobility is not only about tackling climate issues but has an important social impact” by pulling out people from poverty.
Peter Simon (S&D, Germany), member of the Intergroup, noted that local authorities need to have a serious debate with representatives of industry in order to plan new mobility services and different types of interconnections within urban areas. Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland) added in this context that other cities can learn how to deal with industry thanks to the best practices collected by the Partnership.
The Partnership for Urban Mobility is one of 12 partnerships set up in the framework of the Urban Agenda for the EU. This partnership is coordinated by the City of Karlsruhe (Germany) and Czech Republic. Other members are: the cities of Bari (Italy), Bielefeld (Germany), Burgas (Bulgaria), Gdynia (Poland), Malmö (Sweden), Nijmegen (the Nethermands), Torres Vedras (Portugal); the rgions of Skåne (Sweden), Wallonia (Belgium); Member States: Cyprus, Finland, Romania, Slovenia; Other participants: the European Commission (DG REGIO, DG MOVE, DG ENV), CEMR, EUROCITIES, EIB; Stakeholders: the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), POLIS, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), Walk21; Observers: URBACT, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety of Germany, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Neterlands.
More information about this Partnership
