Polis hosted workshop on national frameworks of SUMPs

Sustainable Urban Transport Plans (SUMPs) are a key tool to achieve more sustainable mobility locally. The European Commission recognises the potential of SUMPs, supports capacity building and encourages the uptake of SUMPs. Hence, the joint presentation of DG Move and EASME was titled "EU loves SUMPs". DG Regio's Vincent Leiner, then, investigated the link between SUMPs and EU funding through cohesion funds, to conclude: A transport strategy needs to be in place before applying for funding.

Very diverse approaches across Member States

Some Member States also support the uptake SUMPs with funding, legislation, guidance and/or support. During the workshop, a close look was taken into the approaches of four countries: Romania that made SUMPs mandatory for larger cities, England with its interesting evolution around LTPs (Local Transport Plans), France that already has two third of its population covered with a SUMP, and Flanders where conditionality for infrastructure financing is in place.

The chair of the CIVITAS CAPITAL Advisory Group on SUMPs, Susanne Böhler-Baedeker of Rupprecht Consult, moderated the concluding debate, which addressed qiestions such as: Which type of overarching support mechanism is needed to support the uptake and quality of SUMPs? Are the national approaches transferable? In which ways are SUMPs a requirement to receive (European) funding?

The workshop has contributed to build capacity on the impact of national (or regional) frameworks on SUMPs prior to the upcoming revision of the European Eltis SUMP guidelines. It also helps prepare the path to make SUMPs an essential part of the upcoming urban mobility partnership of the European Urban Agenda.

More information

• The presentations of the workshop are available for download here: https://www.polisnetwork.eu/endurance-sump
• http://www.epomm.eu/endurance/
• Contact: For more information on the workshop, please contact Dagmar Köhler, dkoehler@polisnetwork.eu