Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans –

Planning for People

www.mobilityplans.eu
A S u s ta i n a b l e U r ba n M o b i l i t y P l a n

W h at i s i t ? W h at i s i t s p u r p o s e ?
... a strategic plan that builds on existing planning A Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan aims to create a
practices and takes due consideration of integration, sustainable urban transport system by:
participation, and evaluation principles to satisfy the • Ensuring the accessibility of jobs
mobility needs of people today and tomorrow for a and services to all;
better quality of life in cities and their surroundings. • Improving safety and security;
• Reducing pollution, greenhouse gas
emissions and energy consumption;
• Increasing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness
of the transportation of persons and goods;
• Enhancing the attractiveness and quality of the
urban environment.
W h at i s t h e s co p e ? W h at d o e s i t b u i l d o n ?

The policies and measures defined in a Sustainable Municipalities should not consider it as yet another
Urban Mobility Plan should address comprehensively plan on the urban agenda. It is important to empha-
all modes and forms of transport in the entire urban sise that a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans builds
agglomeration, including public and private, passen- on and expands existing plan documents.
ger and freight, motorised and non-motorised, mov-
ing and parking.

If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get

cars and traffic. If you plan for people and
places, you get people and places. Fred Kent
H ow d o e s i t wo r k ?

A Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan

is a way of tackling transport-
related problems in urban areas
more efficiently. Building on ex-
isting practices and regulatory
frameworks in the Member States,
its basic characteristics are:
• A participatory approach;
A participatory approach that A pledge for sustainability to balance
• A pledge for sustainability; involves citizens and stakeholders economic development, social equity
• An integrated approach; from the outset and throughout the and environmental quality
planning process
• A clear vision, objectives and
measurable targets; Involving citizens and other stakehold- A commitment to the principles of sus-
• A review of transport costs ers is a basic principle to be followed. tainability is essential. As sustainabil-
It is crucial to thoroughly plan the in- ity is a complex concept, it is impor-
and benefits.
volvement. This requires consent why tant to develop a joint understanding
certain stakeholder groups should be among the key stakeholders of what
involved and what their influence could sustainability and sustainable mobility
be. Following the actual stakeholder means for a city and its surroundings.
identification, a stakeholder coordina- In developing a Sustainable Urban Mo-
tion strategy should determine the how bility Plan, the view should be broad-
and when of the involvement. Through ened beyond transport and mobility
an appropriate citizen and stakeholder and appropriately consider social, eco-
involvement, decisions for or against nomic, environmental, and political-
specific urban mobility measures as institutional criteria.
well as the Sustainable Urban Mobility
Plan itself can obtain a significant level
of “public legitimacy”.
An integrated approach that consid- A clear vision, objectives and a focus A review of transport costs and
ers practices and policies of different on achieving measurable targets that benefits, taking into account wider
policy sectors, authority levels, and are embedded in an overall sustain- societal costs and benefits
neighbouring authorities able development strategy

In many cases, plan development is The plan should be based on a long- Measure selection is guided not only by
driven by a city’s mobility or transport term vision for transport and mobility effectiveness but also by value for mon-
department. However, the policy rel- development for the entire urban ag- ey. Especially in times of tight budgets
evance of Sustainable Urban Mobil- glomeration. It should cover all modes for urban transport and mobility, it is
ity Plans is not limited to mobility and and forms of transport: Public and pri- crucial to get the most impact possible
transport, and it is one of its charac- vate, passenger and freight, motorised for the resources spent. This requires
teristics to involve other municipal and and non-motorised, moving and park- a basic assessment of options with an
regional departments (for example, ing. A strategic vision provides a quali- eye on costs and benefits, including
land-use, environment, economic de- tative description of a desired urban those that cannot be easily measured or
velopment, social inclusion, health, future and serves to guide the devel- valued such as those related to green-
safety) in the planning process. It is a opment of appropriate planning meas- house gas emissions or air quality im-
significant challenge to address defi- ures. The vision needs to be specified pacts. The European Commission em-
cits in integration and cooperation, but by concrete objectives, which indicate phasises in its Transport White Paper
is also a main source for innovation the type of change desired. Changes (2011) the importance to proceed with
and improvement. and impacts also need to be measure- the internalisation of external costs for
able requiring a well-thought-out set all modes of transport applying com-
of targets that focus on selected areas mon principles while taking into ac-
and indicators. count the specificity of each mode.
P o l i cy bac kg ro u n d
In the Action Plan on Urban Mobility published in
2009, the European Commission proposed to ac-
celerate the take-up of Sustainable Urban Mobility
Plans in Europe by providing guidance material, Developing and implementing a Sustainable Ur-
promote best practice exchange, identify bench- ban Mobility Plan should be understood as a
marks, and support educational activities for ur- continuous process which comprises eleven es-
ban mobility professionals. EU transport ministers sential step. The graphical overview of this proc-
are supporting the development of Sustainable Ur- ess presents these steps in a logical sequence. In
ban Mobility Plans. The conclusions on the Action practice these activities can run partially in paral-
Plan on Urban Mobility of 24 June 2010 state that lel or include feedback loops.
the Council of the European Union “supports the
development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans A detailed description of all the steps and activities
for cities and metropolitan areas [...] and encour- can be found in the Guidelines “Developing and
ages the development of incentives, such as expert Implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan”.
assistance and information exchange, for the cre- The Guidelines include good practice examples,
ation of such plans”. useful tools and references that further illustrate
the entire plan making process. The guidelines
In March 2011, the European Commission re- can be downloaded at www.mobilityplans.eu
leased its Transport White Paper “Roadmap to a
Single European Transport Area – Towards a com-
petitive and resource efficient transport system“
(COM(2011)0144 final). The Transport White Paper
proposes to examine the possibility of making Ur-
ban Mobility Plans a mandatory approach for cities
of a certain size, according to national standards
based on EU Guidelines. It also suggests to explore
linking regional development and cohesion funds
to cities and regions that have submitted a current,
independently validated Urban Mobility Perform-
ance and Sustainability Audit certificate. Finally,
the Transport White Paper proposes to examine
the possibility of a European support framework
for a progressive implementation of Urban Mobil-
ity Plans in European cities.
 P roc e s s

Milestone:
Final impact assessment
concluded 1.1 Commit to overall sustainable mobility principles

1.2 Assess impact of regional/national framework

11.1 Update current plan regularly Starting Point: 1.3 Conduct self-assessment
Review achievements - "We want to
11.2
understand success and failure improve mobility 1.4 Review availability of resources
and quality
Identify new challenges of life for our 1.5 Define basic timeline
11.3 citizens!"
for next SUMP generation
1. Determine 1.6 Identify key actors and stakeholders
11. Learn the your potential
10.1 Manage plan implementation lessons for a successful Look beyond your own
SUMP 2.1 boundaries and responsibilities
10.2 Inform and engage the citizens
Strive for policy coordination and
10. Ensure 2.2 an integrated planing approach
Check progress towards 2. Define the
10.3 proper manage- development
achieving the objectives Plan stakeholder and citizen
ment and process and 2.3
communication Implementing Preparing scope of
involvement

Milestone: the plan well plan

2.4
Agree on workplan and
management arrangements
SUMP
document Prepare an analysis of
3.1 problems and
adopted
9. Adopt Sustainable opportunities
3. Analyse the Develop scenarios
9.1
Check the quality Sustainable Urban mobility situation
3.2
of the plan Urban Mobility and develop
Plan Mobility scenarios
9.2 Adopt the plan Milestone:
Planning Analysis of problems
Create ownership & opportunities concluded
9.3
of the plan Rational and
8. Build Elaborating transparent
Develop a common vision of
monitoring and the plan goal setting 4. Develop 4.1
mobility and beyond
Arrange for monitoring assessment into a common
8.1
and evaluation the plan vision 4.2 Actively inform the public

7. Agree
5. Set
on clear
priorities and
7.1 Assign responsibilities and resources responsibilities
measurable 5.1 Identify the priorities for mobility
and allocate 6. Develop
effective targets
7.2 Prepare an action and budget plan funding 5.2 Develop SMART targets
packages of
measures
6.1 Identify the most effective measures

6.2 Learn from others' experience

Milestone:
Measures 6.3 Consider best value for money
identified
6.4 Use synergies and create integrated packages of measures
SU M P i n p r act i c e

Koprivnica, Croatia Budapest, Hungary Odense, Denmark

– Status analysis – Integration and policy coordination – Stakeholder & citizen communication

Koprivnica, a city of 33,700 inhabitants Budapest is an example for the integra- Thanks to a major effort to communicate
in North-Western Croatia, carried out tion of a mobility plan into an overall mu- its Traffic and Mobility Plan to its citi-
a detailed status analysis of its urban nicipal policy framework. In 2003, the city zens, the City of Odense finally managed
mobility situation. This was based on endorsed the Urban Development Con- to close two major roads to cars – some-
a self-assessment by the municipality, cept. It defines the vision and long-term thing that had been stopped previously
an extensive consultation process with priorities for the city’s overall develop- due to public concern over displaced
a range of stakeholders and a public ment. Based on this concept and exten- traffic. In 2007, the city involved the wid-
survey. The self-assessment revealed sive stakeholder consultations, the city est range of stakeholders (not just local
that the city has excellent conditions to developed the Urban Development Strat- residents, but many different groups
promote sustainable mobility, and it was egy of Budapest - known as Podmaniczky from across the city), and developed a
crucial in choosing the right focus for the Plan. This policy document sets out the special “Toolbox” to explain traffic plan-
city’s mobility strategy. The urban struc- city’s development priorities for the peri- ning in simple terms. In addition, the
ture is level, compact and has enough od 2005 – 2013, including the main urban plan gradually changed from a docu-
space to install an extensive bicycle net- development measures. This urban de- ment about cars and traffic to one about
work. Already now 30 % of the population velopment strategy is complemented by people and places, and it was constantly
walk or cycle regularly. 70 % of school the Heart of Budapest Mobility Plan. This promoted, on its own website, on post-
children go to school by public trans- plan was created in 2007 to revitalise ers, and in the local press and at special
port, cycling or walking. In the summer the inner city through large-scale traf- events. All this work finally paid off, and
vacation period, pedestrians and cyclists fic calming and infrastructure projects the Plan was unanimously approved by
outnumber cars. When car drivers were in the field of sustainable urban mobility. the City Council.
asked in the public survey whether they The plan prioritises non-motorised local
would change their mobility patterns if transport to support local businesses
proper infrastructure was in place, there and enhance the quality of life.
was overwhelming support.
 Intial target:
No more than 345 people killed or seriously injured in 2010.
700

600

500

Casualities
400

300

200

1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Casualities LTP1/LTP2 target Trajectory Initial LTP3 target Draft national target

Lille, France Cambridgeshire, UK Gent, Belgium

– Vision building – Targets and trajectories – Informing the public

In Lille, the development process of the The third Cambridgeshire Local Trans- In 2007, the City of Gent and five other
Plan de Déplacements Urbains (Sus- port Plan (LTP) 2011 – 2026 defines the partners launched a project to transform
tainable Urban Mobility Plan) started indicators and targets that are used to the main railway station, Gent Sint-Pi-
after the big urban regeneration move- monitor progress towards achieving the eters, and the land around it until 2020
ment in the 1990s. The new TGV terminal plan’s objectives. The chosen indicators into a huge mixed use development with
created the opportunity of establishing reflect issues which are most important good intermodal connections. A project
the entirely new neighbourhood called to Cambridgeshire while at the same this large needed a concerted informa-
Euralille that also serves as an interna- time allowing comparisons with other lo- tion and consultation strategy to gain and
tional, national, regional and local public cal authorities in the country. The LTP in- maintain public acceptance of the works.
transport node. Planners have the vision cludes illustrations that clarify the links This resulted in a permanent information
of a city that is economically strong, with between objectives, targets and long- point with maps, videos and a 3D model,
an international profile. The renovation term trajectories. National road safety a regular newsletter for local residents,
of public spaces currently dominated by targets from the year 2009 sought a 33 % events in schools and “dialogue cafes”
traffic plays an important part in creat- reduction people killed or seriously in- to give people the chance to comment
ing an attractive city. One of the strategic jured by 2020 in road traffic. The LTP sets in detail on the project. Twice a year, the
questions raised was the choice between initial targets for this indicator for the public is invited to visit the construc-
the further development of the metro period to 2012. The figure above shows tion site. On those occasions, 400 to 800
system and surface public transport (bus Cambridgeshire’s performance against people are invited in small groups to see
and tram). The city opted for surface this indicator since 1994 as well as the the work close up and to receive more
transport development as a means to re- LTP target for 2012. explanations from project partners and
structure, redesign and redefine public engineers.
spaces.
Benefits

Improved image A better

of a city quality of life
A city engaged in sustainable SUMP means planning for
urban mobility planning can people rather than cars and
project the image of being in- traffic. It carries an emotional
novative and forward-looking. message expressed, for ex-
ample, in the aim for higher
quality public spaces or im-
proved children’s safety.

Improved mobility Environmental

and accessibility and health benefits
People-focused urban mo- Working towards air quality
bility planning ultimately re- improvements, noise reduc-
sults improves citizen’s mo- tions and climate change miti-
bility situation and facilitates gation leads to positive health
access to urban areas and effects and significant savings
their services. in health-related costs.

Potential to reach Citizen- & stakeholder

more people supported decisions
Sustainable urban mobility Planning for people implies
planning offers opportunities planning with people. Through
to reach more people and citizens and other stakehold-
better respond to the needs ers, decsions for or against
of different user groups. urban mobility measures can
obtain a significant level of
“public legitimacy”.
 I n fo r m at i o n
The European Commission seeks to accelerate the
large scale take up of Sustainable Urban Mobility
Plans by local and regional authorities in Europe
Effective fulfilment by informing comprehensively about the scope,
of legal obligations content and benefits of these plans.
Sustainable urban mobility
planning offers an effective

G u i da n c e
way to tackle and fulfil legal
obligations such as the Euro-
pean Commission’s Air Qual-
ity Directive or national noise The 2011 guidance document, “Developing and
regulations. Implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan”,
introduces the concept of Sustainable Urban
Mobility Plans and sets out the steps involved in
More competitive
their preparation. The document is aimed at ur-
cities and access to
funding ban transport and mobility practitioners as well as
other stakeholders who should be involved in the
SUMPs can provide access
preparation and implementation of Sustainable
to funding available for inno-
vative solutions – potentially
Urban Mobility Plans.
offering a decisive advantage
over other cities when com-

Seminars
peting for public funding.

New political vision, In 2011 and 2012, a team of experts appointed by

integration potential the European Commission is delivering 35 semi-
nars and experience exchange events on Sustain-
SUMP offers a long-term and
strategic vision. It encourages able Urban Mobility Plans in national languages all
an effective planning culture over Europe. Contact us to find out about a training
which aims at the integration workshop near you.
of policy sectors, institutions
as well as cities and their sur-
roundings.
Find more information on:

www.mobilityplans.eu
 Planning for People
Co n tact
E-mail: enquiries@mobilityplans.eu
Tel.: +49.221.60 60 55 - 13
www.mobilityplans.eu

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans

c/o Rupprecht Consult – Forschung und Beratung GmbH
Clever Strasse 13 – 15
50668 Cologne
Germany

Disclaimer: “Planning for People” is a registered community trade mark. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect
the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EACI nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Photos: András Ekés (Cover); City of Koprivnica photo gallery (Page 8), Municipality of Budapest V. District (Page 8), City of Odense (Page 8), Max Lerouge (Page 9), Infopunt Project
Gent Sint-Pieters (Page 9), www.eltis.org (Page 2, 3, 10), Harry Schiffer (Page 11), FGM-AMOR (Page 10, 11), Rupprecht Consult (Page 3, 4, 5)

www.mobilityplans.eu