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TRANSPOWER: Supervised implementation of sustainabl e urban transport concepts

The project has been financed through the sixth framework programme of the EU and coordinated by the GTZ GmbH, entrusted by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development of Brandenburg.

TRANSPOWER enables major actors in the field of urban transport such as municipal and regional authorities to implement concepts for environmentally friendly, resource-saving, secure and efficient urban mobility. Avoidance of traffic, shifting to other modes of transport, and environmentally conscious design are the main strategies for sustainable urban transport. Decision makers need properly evaluated scientific information about best practices and relevant comparable experiences for swift and efficient implementation of urban transport concepts.

The theme environment is integrated as overall theme into the projects’ work packages. The supervised implementation of small, manageable and tailor-made projects and concepts which represent realistic steps, together with the exchange of experience and relevant personnel enabled the participating institutions to build up relevant capacities.

TRANSPOWER designed five thematic work packages which dealt with the most important themes in the field of urban transport in old and new Member States as well as in associated countries. The focus is passenger traffic because cities and municipalities have steering mechanism in this field. Transport of goods would mainly be within the responsibility of national and regional authorities.

The thematic Work packages are:

��� Integrated Planning (IP):

Reducing the necessary lengths of way

��� Traffic Management (TM):

Improving the operations

��� Non-Motorised Transport (NMT):

More rational using of motorised traffic and shifting traffic to non-motorised transport means

��� Mobility Management (MM):

Improving the operations

��� Public Transport (PT):

Making public transport as efficient as possible

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Pedestrianisation and bollards in Skopje, Macedonia

Using a selection of 19 partners from eight countries representing small and medium-sized cities (up to 500, 000 inhabitants), policy makers of municipalities and cities were able to exchange know-how with academia and business. Important aspects of TRANSPOWER are thus the knowledge exchange and qualitative input from experts. To ensure in-depth exchange the project implemented workshops on each thematic work package in different cities and states.

Exemplary the workshops of TRANSPOWER are sketched in the following:

In November 2007, the first TRANSPOWER thematic workshop on Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) took place in Sibiu, Romania . The workshop dealt with barriers and hindrances with regard to non-motorised transport and discussed ways for target group oriented communication. Further it had a focus on bicycle related problems in the city of Sibiu. The participants thematically agreed on two best or bad practices from their city and a first draft of the Municipal Case Study to be presented at the next workshop. The structures of both instruments were explained to the partners and discussed accordingly. The cities Graz and Groningen function as example cities in general. Thus they should contribute to the consortium in order to make several (at least 4 best or bad practices) available and support the other cities upon request. The experts commonly agreed that it is not sufficient to enhance a bicycle system in general (and in Sibiu in particular) by building bike lanes. The key question is: How can citizens be convinced and encouraged to use non-motorized transport. Concrete soft essential measures which might be applicable for cities were presented. These measures were discussed per city, e.g. campaigns and actions to improve the political and public acceptance and support.

The next thematic workshop with the focus on Traffic Management took place in Skopje, Macedonia in June 2008. Traffic management comprises a wide variety of instruments aiming to enhance the traffic flow in cities, to improve operating conditions for public transport and to reduce harmful emissions. The workshop established a joint understanding on challenges, required steps and conditions for the implementation of traffic management systems with certain respect to Skopje. Therefore, the presentations focused on practical questions how to formulate and introduce a strategy for the realisation of a traffic management concept. Furthermore, the participants discussed in detail the best/ bad practices, as well as the first drafts of the Municipal Case Studies with the project partners and the Competence Team, as well as representatives of

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Graz and Groningen in particular. All in all, the presentations highlighted the need for consistent planning procedures based on up-to-date information and data. The situation in Skopje is determined by increasing traffic demand in motorized traffic caused by growing population and growing motorization. The poor operating conditions for public transport, lacking facilities for cyclists and huge parking demand are key challenges for decision-makers and planners in Skopje. In the framework of the Municipal Case the cities are further supported in addressing their key challenges.

In March 2009 the 4th Thematic Workshop took place in Groningen, Netherlands . The objective of the workshop was to focus on the topic Integrated Planning and to discuss on possible approaches, measures and solutions. Specifically, the workshop emphasized the experiences and improved measures, co-operations and results of the hosting City of Groningen as well as the cooperation between the region of and the city.

As an example city of the project, Groningen offered an internship for demanding cities to present their state of the art in sustainable urban transport concepts and solutions.

The participants of the internship in Groningen were briefed in depth by different members of the traffic department of the city of Groningen on several topics regarding sustainable urban transport concepts and policies. Mainly impressing for the participants from the learning cities Nis and L’Aquila were the parking concepts, the shared spaces policies as well as the mobility concepts which encourage the extraordinary bicycle use in the city of Groningen. Several presentations and conversations, as well as site visits took place.

In October 2008 the 3rd Thematic Workshop took place in L’Aquila, Italy . The objective of the workshop was to focus on problems that cities experience in the area of Mobility Management and to discuss potential solutions. The workshop specifically emphasized Mobility Management issues relating to the workshop’s host, the city of L’Aquila.

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In July 2009, the Final Conference of TRANSPOWER took place in Graz, Austria . The conference’s objective was to resume the results of TRANSPOWER and to prepare the ground for the project partners to present their project results.

Besides to the TRANSPOWER consortium, the final conference was also addressed to the political stakeholders of the partner cities in order to raise awareness for the problems of the cities. Political stakeholders attended the conference and gave their input during the panel discussion.

Also in the combination of the final conference in Graz and on special request of the cities a further internship was planned and organized in Graz.

The successful implementation of the TRANSPOWER project is attributable to a highly motivated, qualified and flexible project consortium.

A Competence Team of PTV AG, Ernst Basler + Partner, the European Academy for the Urban Environment, the Austrian Mobility Research (AMOR) as well as GTZ consulted the partner cities in their concepts. Cities such as Graz in Austria and Groningen in the Netherlands contributed with their experiences to an inspiring exchange with Niš, in Serbia, Sibiu and Timisoara in Romania, L’Aquila in Italy, Volos and Halandri in Greece and Skopje in FYROM. Regional know-how and scientific input were given by the Region Steiermark, Austria and the University of Aquila. The German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development of Brandenburg, Germany, the German Federal Environment Agency and POLIS (a city network for environmental friendly city traffic) contributed to the project, by evaluating the results in certain project phases and operating as the Project Advisory Board.