Amsterdam amongst best performers in UITP report on sustainable urban mobility policies

Europe remains the region of the world with the most developed sustainable urban mobility systems, according to a survey of 84 cities worldwide. The study finds that Amsterdam, ranked third, has transport emissions that are significantly lower than the European average of 1.3t/CO2 per year due to the high rate of car sharing and the high proportion of cycling in the modal split at 33%. The city has also used low-emissions zones to cut air pollution. Another European city, Stockholm, is ranked second in the world to Hong Kong. However, the majority of the cities surveyed need to do more to increase public transport usage. Most EU cities already have high shares of sustainable transport modes but need to better integrate them to make them more attractive to consumers.

The report identifies three strategic directions for cities to better shape the future of urban mobility.

• Rethink the System: fundamentally redesign their mobility systems so that they become mor orientated towards public transport and sustainability.
• Network the System: fully integrate the travel value chain to foster seamless, multimodal mobility while ensuring “one face to the customer” and to increase the overall attractiveness of public transport by service extension.
• Establish Sustainable Core (emerging countries) establish a sustainable mobility core that can satisfy short term demand at a reasonable cost without replicating mistakes from developed countries

Sustainable improvements of a city’s mobility performance requires simultaneous improvement on four dimensions:

• Visionary Strategy and Ecosystem: cities to develop a political vision and urban mobility objectives based on strategic alignment between all key public and private stakeholders of the extended mobility ecosystem.
• Mobility Supply (solutions and lifestyles): Cities should extend their public transport offering and adapt it from “delivering transport” to “delivering solutions”.
• Mobility Demand Management: mobility service extension must also be complemented with measures to manage the demand side.
• Public Transport Financing: Devising the right funding mix for public transport is a critical priority

The study also includes 8 case studies of cities demonstrating good practice, including Polis member London.

Link to the UITP report “The future of urban mobility”