Greater Manchester and Lisbon are EU sustainable mobility awards winners

As part of the programme of the annual EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK workshops, winners of the EU Sustainable Mobility Awards were announced in Brussels on 21st March 2018.

The EU Commissionner for transport, Ms. Violeta Bulc and Mr. Jürgen Müller, Head of Cabinet for Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, presented the prizes to the winners of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards 2018, and the 7th Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP).

Lisbon was revealed as the winner of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2018 for larger municipalities, with Lindau taking home the award for smaller municipalities. The 7th SUMP Award was won by Greater Manchester.

7th SUMP Award

The Polis President received the SUMP Award prize since Greater Manchester has set ambitious multimodality goals, which it intends to reach using a wide-range of integrated and combined mobility options. The jury was particularly impressed by Greater Manchester’s use of smart, new technologies to increase the share of journeys made using sustainable modes of transport. As part of its mobility planning approach, Manchester considers each part of the city individually, according to its size, location and function. Measures are then adapted to the needs of the area.

Nicola Kane, Head of Strategic Planning and Research with Transport for Greater Manchester said "Winning the SUMP award is a real honour and endorsement of the hard work that Transport for Greater Manchester and our district colleagues have put in to developing our new Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040. It demonstrates to our citizens and stakeholders that Greater Manchester is planning effectively for the future and that we are serious about improving transport in support of a greener, cleaner and more prosperous city-region."

• Read the case study on Eltis
• Read the full interview with Nicola Kane on the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK website
• Watch the video on YouTube

The other two finalists were also praised for their excellence in integrating multimodality in their sustainable urban mobility plans. In particular, Basel's excellence in the management of cross-border issues and its approach to finance and investment were particularly well appreciated by the jury. The three jury members also recognised Dresden's achievement – exceeded in some cases – of most its SUMP objectives including a decrease in the car modal share.

Frank Fiedler, from the City of Dresden said "For us, the SUMP Award nomination confirmed that we are on the right track, even if there is still a lot of room to improve"

• Watch Basel video on YouTube
• Watch Dresden video on YouTube
• Read the full interview with Frank Fiedler here (p.7 - in German)

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards 2018

The Portuguese capital, home to over half a million people, impressed the jury with its strong vision for a more sustainable mobility culture. During EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2018, residents could use take their bike on board a train for free, giving them a real incentive to try out multimodality. The city also organised museum bike trips, free bicycle repair workshops, and a special prize for people and organisations that promoted the use of bikes. These activities complemented the inauguration of 31 new bike-sharing stations, new and expanded bike lanes, and 800 new bike parking areas. The city also carried out an effective communications campaign, managing to reach both residents and visitors.

Miguel Gaspar, Deputy Mayor for Mobility and Safety said: "This award provides recognition of the work that has been carried out in favor of better mobility in Lisbon. This international recognition reinforces our determination and our willpower to do more and better every single day."

• Watch the video on YouTube
• Read the full interview with Miguel Gaspar on the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK website

The other finalists were Gdynia (Poland) and Palma (Spain).

The German city of Lindau placed significant emphasis on multimodality, the theme of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2018. To communicate the benefits of ‘mixing and moving’, on-street info points were set up where people could learn about making smarter mobility choices. On Car-Free Day, a free hybrid shuttle bus and water taxi were provided, in addition to residents gaining free access to the newly expanded car-sharing service. Commuters were also pleasantly surprised with a breakfast courtesy of the city when they travelled by bike, foot, bus or train. Lindau recently installed almost 500 new bike racks at train stations and bus stops, making it easier to cycle to and from public transport. The city has also launched a new multimodal mobility app that enables users to plan a route using different transport modes.

Karditsa (Greece) and Oliveira do Bairro (Portugal) were the runners up.

Polis congratulates all the winners and finalists and particularly its members for their great achievements!

Photos: Image (European Commission) by "Dani Oshi"