Sustainable Transport Forum handbook: POLIS is looking for good practices from our members!

Launched in 2021, the Sustainable Transport Forum (STF) handbook summarised the key findings from the Recommendations for Recharging Point Tenders and provided useful case studies outlining current best practices. But three years have passed since then, and a lot has changed in the e-mobility ecosystem, with a fast growth of electric vehicle fleets, and the need to stay up to speed when it comes to recharging infrastructure deployment. Innovations like smart charging and Vehicle-to-Grid are now also scaling up, and this needs to be reflected in an updated and future-proof handbook.

The handbook outlines the main details from STF’s guidelines, providing advice to local authorities for procuring, awarding concessions, licences and/or granting support for electric recharging infrastructure for passenger cars and vans. Continuing cooperation and peer-learning between cities and regions are essential for the effective and efficient establishment of electric vehicle (EV) recharging infrastructure, that both serves user and cities needs. This includes taking part in EU-funded projects like SCALE and eCharge4Drivers but also identifying new technologies and partnership models, as well as considering other aspects not fully addressed before, like streamlining the permitting and grid connections.

The handbook was inspired by the experience of POLIS members detailing best practices, such as:

• Identifying new locations for recharging infrastructure: in Madrid, London, and Stuttgart
• e-Parking policy in the City of Amsterdam
• Cooperation in Flanders’ annual concession tender
• MRA-E joint procurement in the Netherlands
• Leuven requirements for positioning recharging infrastructure

These best practices being pioneered by POLIS members and their neighbours provided accessible, user-friendly learning tools for local authorities seeking to develop or enhance their sustainable mobility offerings. Now, as part of the handbook update, POLIS is collecting additional input from our members on new good practices that could be showcased! if you know about any good practices for procuring and concessions, licences and/or granting support for electric recharging infrastructure, please get in touch with Pedro Gomes (pgomes@polisnetwork.eu), Clean Vehicles & Air Quality Cluster lead.