Guide to Sustainable Urban Transport Plans

Guide to Sustainable Urban Transport Plans

Moving Sustainably

Acknowledgements

Th e Moving Sustainably – Guide to Sustainable Urban Transport Plans has been written by Sakari Saarinen and Anna Granberg at Union of the Baltic Cities Commission on Environment, Michael Koucky at Union of the Baltic Cities Commission on Transport, Sönke Behrends at Chalmers University of Technology and Allen Creedy at ethics etc..., BUSTRIP city cases are written by Virpi Kaukavuori and Sakari Saarinen.

Th anks to the BUSTRIP city coordinators and their colleagues, Alicja Pawlowska - city of Gdynia, Gunilla Fransson - city of Göteborg, James McGeever - city of Kaunas, Hannu Koverola - Kouvola Region, Dace Liepniece and Mara Zeltina - city of Liepaja, Karri Tiigisoon and Grete Kukk - city of Pärnu, Christer Tarberg - city of Sundsvall, Marek Muiste - city of Tartu, Mikko Laaksonen - city of Turku, Danguole Vaitkiene and Aurelija Babiliute - city of Vilnius, Per Elvingson - city of Örebro, Michael Frömming and Michael Glotz-Richter - city of Bremen, for providing us with your experiences and for great cooperation.

Th anks to the BUSTRIP Project Steering Group; Magnus Blinge, Maria Lindholm and Sönke Behrends - Chalmers University of Technology, Sofi e Vennersten, Lisa Sundell and Michael Koucky - UBC Commission on Transport, Allen Creedy - ethics etc..., Anna Granberg, Sakari Saarinen and Björn Grönholm - UBC Commission on Environment.

Th anks to Per Elvingson, Maria Lindholm, James McGeever, Sofi e Vennersten, Heidi Tuhkanen, Virpi Kaukavuori, Kyösti Lempa, Eija Eloranta and Stella Aaltonen for valuable comments and to Paul W Harrison for proof-reading.

Moving Sustainably - Guide to Sustainable Urban Transport Plans

Moving Sustainably is the fi nal product of the BUSTRIP project part-fi nanced by European Union (European Regional Development Fund) within the BSR INTERREG IIIB Neighbourhood programme, the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the partner cities. Th e guide book refl ects the authors’ views and can under no circumstances be regarded as refl ecting the position of the European Commission. Th e BUSTRIP project is part of the UBC Agenda 21 Programme 2004-2009 – Roadmap for Sustainable Baltic Cities.© Union of the Baltic Cities Commission on EnvironmentMore copies of the guide book can be ordered at www.movingsustainably.netPrinted on 100 % recycled paper at Painoprisma Oy, a Nordic Swan environmentally certifi ed printing house.Th is document may only be copied in its entirety and without any kind of alteration. It may be quoted from provided that the Moving Sustainably - Guide to Sustainable Urban Transport Plans is stated as the source.Photographs: see page 75Layout design by Sari Bowie ISBN 978-952-5725-17-9

Moving SustainablyGuide to Sustainable Urban Transport Plans

“We are not only doing this for traffi c. We are doing this for creating

a more liveable city.”

4


CONTENTS

1. Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................5

2. Planning process .............................................................................................................................102.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 102.2. Players of the game – Responsibility and organisation ...................................................................................................................... 112.3. Work together – Policy coordination through actor cooperation ...................................................................................................... 132.4. Involve and engage – Stakeholder cooperation and citizen participation ........................................................................................... 162.5. Respect all – Equality and gender equity .......................................................................................................................................... 212.6. Keep on learning – Capacity building .............................................................................................................................................. 242.7. Th e name of the game – Scope and defi nition .................................................................................................................................. 272.8. Starting position – Baseline review ................................................................................................................................................... 302.9. Guiding star – Vision ....................................................................................................................................................................... 352.10. Find the resources – Identifying fi nances .......................................................................................................................................... 38

3. Implementation ..............................................................................................................................403.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 403.2. Make it SMART – Objectives and targets ........................................................................................................................................ 413.3. Earmark the resources – Allocating fi nances ..................................................................................................................................... 443.4. Take the positions – Assignment of responsibilities ........................................................................................................................... 463.5. Make it for real – Adoption and approval ......................................................................................................................................... 483.6. Keep the right track – Monitoring and assessment ........................................................................................................................... 50

4. Striving for better urban living and mobility ........................................................................................544.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 544.2. Close and easy – Reduced need for transport .................................................................................................................................... 554.3. Effi cient travelling – Strengthening sustainable transport modes....................................................................................................... 584.4. Healthy and pleasant – Clean and silent transport system ................................................................................................................ 624.5. Rethinking goods transport – Effi cient urban logistics .................................................................................................................... 64

Appendix 1 – EU SUTP qualities ............................................................................................................68

Appendix 2 - Policy documents ............................................................................................................70

Appendix 3 - Good practice databases ...................................................................................................70

Appendix 4 – Glossary ........................................................................................................................71

5

Intro

ductio

n


1. INTRODUCTION

As people travel to buy goods and use services, they generate traffi c. It is the ordinary day-to-day activities of urban residents – going to the shops, visiting the dentist or attending school – that generate traffi c. Your city, as many cities today, face a multitude of challenges related to these activi-ties, congestion, noise, air quality issues, health, safety, quality of life and the problem with a multitude of diverting policies in the fi eld of urban transport. On the global level, the challenge of climate change and its environmental, health and economic impacts are strongly connected to transport and unsustainable mobility behaviour.

Th ese challenges are the driving forces behind the recent calls for powerful measures on the local transport arena. Urban mobility issues are complex and cannot be successfully solved by simple transport plans. Th ey require radical new policy instruments together with an integrated approach to mobility and the design of our cities. Sustainable Urban Transport Plans (SUTP) have been strongly recommended by the European Union as the foundation upon which a new approach to transport can be built. Embracing radical new policies and facilitating the necessary integration of transport, urban and economic planning.

Th e preparation and adoption of a Sustainable Urban Transport Plan is a process that often requires new ways of thinking, cross departmental cooperation and integration of diff erent policy areas. Comprehensive new tools together with guidance on their use are required to help the cities to both understand and get started with the SUTP process. Th is SUTP guide ‘Moving Sustainably’ is based on the Baltic Sea Region INTERREG III B project BUSTRIP (Baltic Urban Sustainable Transport Implementation and Planning, www.bustrip-project.net). BUSTRIP has supported twelve Northern European cities in their groundbreaking eff orts to be the fi rst cities in Europe to prepare and implement SUTPs. Th e objective of this guide is to provide tools and guidance for transport and urban planners and decision-makers on how to plan and implement sustainable urban transport.

A Sustainable Urban Transport Plan has two basic components:

SUT planning

Th e process of preparing an SUTP – SUT planning – requires ongo-ing and eff ective local and regional cooperation and collaboration. Th is joint eff ort between administrations, agencies and stakeholders needs to

encompass visioning, partnerships, involvement, policy and fi nance op-tion appraisal and a review of existing implementation programmes and mechanisms. Th e process of SUT planning is at least as important as the completed SUT plan

Th e process of preparing the plan should be carefully considered and agreed with all relevant stakeholders. Human and fi nancial resources will be required to manage the SUT planning process. New institutional, or-ganisational and communication arrangements may be required. Existing arrangements should be reviewed with stakeholders as part of the process of agreeing on the new arrangements. An essential element of the SUT planning is the free and unhindered exchange of information, knowledge and views. Th e process and the supporting resources should support the open and transparent process of SUT planning.

SUT plan

Th e SUT plan is a tool to provide more sustainable ways of meeting the mobility and transport needs for people and goods in urban areas. It com-prehensively addresses public and private transport, motorised and non-motorised transport, moving and parked vehicles as well as freight trans-port and logistics. Th ese transport categories are dealt with in an integrated way. Th e SUT plan should become a guiding document for all sectors of planning that involve, aff ect or are aff ected by transport. Th e SUT plan should express a shared vision on the development of transport in the city in the framework of sustainability and provide a strategy to systematically work towards this goal.

In short the SUT plan is the working document developed by the city to address the challenge of achieving sustainable urban transport.

6


Intr

oduct

ion

Process cycle

Transforming urban mobility and urban planning practice into sustainable practice is a long process. Our unsustainable transport patterns and infra-structure have emerged over the course of decades. Our infrastructure, our cities and the expectations we have for mobility and transport cannot be changed overnight. Th e starting point is diff erent for each city; political situation, national and regional characteristics and the resources available. Th erefore every city has to fi nd its own, workable solution for the SUTP process.

Th e fi gure on page 7 visualises the general process of the SUTP. Th e outer circle and the block arrow on the right hand show the SUT planning part and the inner circle shows the SUT plan process. Th e model illustrates the need for regular update and feedback to the organisation on the progress of the plan. Policy coordination, stakeholder cooperation, equity and gender equality and capacity building continuously inform the development and implementation of the Sustainable Urban Transport Plan and its actions.

City experiences as basis for the guidance

Th e concept of SUTP used in this guide is directed towards small- and medium-sized cities. Th ese cities are taking their fi rst steps in the process that is aimed at improving the city transport – by making it more sustain-able, co-operative and integrated. It can also be used by cities that already have elements of a SUTP that would like to further integrate, upgrade and extend their eff orts. By ‘cities’ in this guidebook we refer local authorities of all sizes.

Th e guidance is based on fi ndings, experiences and good practices of the BUSTRIP partner cities. Th e experiences show that SUTP process must build on the existing strengths and opportunities of a city. Above all, in-tegration is the key to SUTP. Th e integration of diff erent policy areas can lead to benefi cial consequences on the environment; lowered air quality emissions and lower noise levels for example. It can also support improve-ments in personal health and in more sustainable lifestyle patterns.

SUTP calls for an extensive involvement of stakeholders from outside the city administration; NGOs, citizens and business representatives. It re-quires close cooperation with national and regional governments to ensure compliance with their strategic plans, recognising that in order to make progress towards the sustainable development there is a need to consider the transport and mobility of the whole of a functional urban area – since mobility does not recognise administrative boundaries. Th e SUTP requires an inclusive approach that acknowledges the equality of all individuals and groups and their rights to participate in decision making.

One fundamental ingredient of an SUTP is the utilisation of a ‘sustainable city vision’ as a starting point for the SUTP work. Th is vision demonstrates how long term hopes and aspirations of the plan can serve as the ‘guiding stars’ for the whole process, how they can be used to stimulate interest and involvement and how useful they can be used in the marketing of the work. For a successful SUTP the setting of measurable and time-limited targets is crucial; in fact, without these it is not even possible to evaluate the plan. To measure and follow-up on the impact of the actions is another crucial aspect of the plan.

SUTP

7


Reduced need for transport

Enchanced modal shift

SUT plan

SUT planning

Clean and silent transport system

Effi cient urban logistics

ACTION

Scope and defi nition

Allocating fi nances

Monitoring and assessment

Vision

Responsibility and organisation

Adoption and approval

Baseline Review

Identifying fi nances

Assignment of responsibilities

Objectives and targets

Policy coordination

Stakeholder cooperation

Equity and gender equality

Capacity building

Process cycle

8


Intr

oduct

ion

User introduction

Th e ‘Moving Sustainably’ guidance consists of the guidebook and the web-site for Sustainable Urban Transport Plans.

Th e guidebook is divided into three parts; the fi rst focuses on the process of preparing the SUT plan; the second concentrates on the eff ective im-plementation of the plan and the third considers the measures that should be carried out as a result of the plan. Th e chapters within the main parts are the ‘concrete’ steps in the process. Each stage is interlinked and all users are recommended to consider and assess all the steps of the process. For some local administrations the implementation of some of the steps is self-evident and will be normal practice. Th e guidebook can be used in diff erent ways; either as a ‘step-by-step’ guide in preparing an SUTP ‘from scratch’, or it can serve as the basis for carrying out a gap analysis between the already existing transport planning processes in the city and an SUTP.

Each chapter/step of the process includes a why and a how section. Th is provides the rationale and practical guidance to complete the work in-volved in each step. Each chapter concludes with a checklist that provides a view on what are the most important issues to be ‘checked off ’ and considered for each step of the SUTP for the city. Th e twelve city cases (contained within diff erent chapters) present a selection of ‘hands-on’ ex-periences taken from the twelve BUSTRIP project cities. Each case study focuses on diff erent steps in the SUTP processes. Th e BUSTRIP cities experiences provide practical illustration of how the diff erent steps of the SUTP process have been carried out by diff erent cities.

Th e four appendixes of the guidebook include additional information and links to other information sources. Th e fi rst appendix introduces the European Union defi nition and qualities for SUTP in brief. Th e second appendix introduces selected information and links to EU and other poli-cy documents that are related to sustainable urban transport and to the dif-ferent steps of the SUTP. Th e third appendix provides the users with links to Good Practice databases that include practical examples of sustainable urban transport systems and actions from other cities around the world. Th e fourth appendix is the glossary of the guidebook, including words and terms used in the world of sustainable urban transport.

Th e Moving Sustainably website www.movingsustainably.net includes not only all the guidebook information but also all the templates and forms for the SUTP work that have been developed and used in the BUSTRIP project. Th e website will be continuously updated with the information and links to new policy and good practice documents.

Enjoy the journey through the process of Sustainable Urban Transport Plans!

Authors

9


10


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

2. PLANNING PROCESS

2.1 Introduction

Th e following chapters describe the essential steps required for a sustainable urban transport planning process. Th e fi rst chapter ‘responsibil-ity and organisation’ explains how the process can only be successful if there is political com-mitment and support together with clear alloca-tion of responsibilities and defi nition of working methods.

Th e next four chapters examine ‘policy coordi-nation through actor cooperation’, ‘stakeholder cooperation and citizen participation’, ‘equality and gender equity’ and ‘capacity building’ and how as planning principles they are essential pre-requisites for all aspects of SUT planning and SUTP implementation.

Th e latter four chapters about ‘scope and defi ni-tion’, ‘baseline review’, ‘vision’ and ‘identifying fi nances’ are the other fundamental elements of the actual planning process. Th ese elements lay the ground for the successful SUTP process, and without these the process and implementation of SUTP will fail.

11


2.2 Players of the game – Responsibility and organisation

How

Start the SUTP work by appointing a ‘coordina-tor’. S/he must have suffi cient time, authority and control over resources to direct and manage the inter-sectoral working group through the SUTP process. Th e inter-sectoral SUTP work-ing group should involve representatives from the key departments/authorities of the munici-pal administration: transport planning, spatial planning, real estate, social aff airs, education, economical aff airs, environmental protection, sustainability departments/units etc. Key exter-nal stakeholders such as regional authorities and neighbouring municipality representatives may be invited to special meetings with the working group. It is also advisable to assign a senior lead offi cer to be accountable to the political leader-ship for the administrative, fi nancial and techni-cal aspects of the SUTP work.

It is essential that the SUTP work has political support. Th e ideal situation is that the SUTP process is initiated by the political leadership. To appoint one political representative who has the responsibility and is accountable for the SUTP work is advisable. Th is politician‘s role is to par-ticipate in the management of the SUTP, moni-tor the achievement of targets, ensure that mile-stones are achieved and closely follow the work of the inter-sectoral SUTP working group.

Why

Transforming the transport system of a city into a sustainable transport system is a challenging and time-demanding process that is worth being systematically planned and continuously managed. It requires col-laboration and coordination between those departments in the city administration that either aff ect or are aff ected by trans-port developments – not only the obvious transport planning and urban planning departments but also the environmental protection, economics and social integra-tion departments must be involved. A clear organisational structure and the assignment of responsibilities are prerequisites for the successful and sustainable transformation of urban transport.

A work plan is the key document for the whole SUTP process. It should include as a minimum, the SUTP process budget, a stakeholder involve-ment plan, communication plan, how research and information will be collected in relation to the baseline review, key milestone dates, a sched-ule for the meetings, and an outline of roles and responsibilities specifi c to the SUTP planning process.

12


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

Improving the collaboration and cooperation between departments is a pre-requisite both for the successful planning of the SUTP and the implementation of its actions. Th e inter-secto-ral SUTP working group is not only the starting point for this improvement but also one of the mechanisms necessary for ensuring that it con-tinues.

Checklist

Th e basic elements to start the process and inter-sectoral working group:

Th ere is a political mandate and support for SUTP work

Th ere is a political representative for the SUTP work who is actively involved in the process

Th ere is a coordinator with responsibility and the resources for organising the SUTP work

Representatives from key stakeholder departments regularly participate in the working group meetings and activities and have the authority to take decisions

Th e inter-sectoral group work plan includes details of budgets, actions, goals and responsibilities

13


2.3 Work together – Policy coordination through actor cooperation

How

Policy coordination ensures that the various policy documents and strategies on the city, re-gional and national levels are coordinated and coherent. Th is demands a system of cooperation between diff erent departments within the mu-nicipality and with other relevant actors. Ideally, the city’s policies from one fi eld to another are fully compatible and accordant with the goals for sustainable urban transport. Policies that contradict or hinder the achievement of SUTP goals need to be identifi ed, discussed and even changed.

Th e SUTP should link all transport modes and policy sectors that infl uence or are infl uenced

Why

Sustainable urban transport is more than the management of urban transport carried out according to sustainability principles – it re-quires coordinated actions across a diversity of policy themes so that land use and spatial planning support and facilitate an effi cient urban transport system; there is eff ective control over the environmental, economi-cal and social impacts of transport; shared knowledge exists regarding the health and safety impacts of various transport modes; integration takes place with sustainable de-velopment strategies; and education and awareness-raising occurs with a transparent exchange of information facilitated through the use of real-time information technology support.

A lack of coordination between the various policies, city departments and external or-ganisations has been a considerable short-coming in the urban transport planning of many cities. A major challenge for the SUTP process is to address this defi cit.

by traffi c within the geographical coverage of the planning area. Th is includes national and regional plans, other relevant citywide plans, transport companies and provider’s plans/strate-gies and, last but not least, neighbouring munic-ipalities. Th e SUTP should ensure that transport and mobility goals are integrated with corporate comprehensive planning and those of other sec-tors — in particular, land use and spatial plans but also environmental protection, social in-clusion, economic development, safety, health, education and information technologies.

14


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

Checklist

Policies and rules that aff ect transport are identifi ed and listed

Policies and rules are checked for contradictions and support for sustainable urban transport

Policies and rules that confl ict with the goals of sustainable urban transport are listed

A clear hierarchy of policies has been defi ned

Confl icting goals are pointed out to responsible decision-makers

Confl icting rules and policies are changed

Regional and national goals that are aff ected by the cities transport are identifi ed

Regional and national rules that aff ect the cities transport issues are identifi ed

Regional and national rules that confl ict with goals of sustainable urban transport are listed

Th ere is transparency in the area of what other policies and plans are part of or linked to the SUTP

Within a municipally controlled organisation, departments sometimes have policies and pro-cedures that are in confl ict with goals in other departments or with the goals of sustainable ur-ban transport. A fi rst step in policy coordination is to identify the existing municipal, regional and national policies, goals, procedures and regulations in various departments that aff ect or are aff ected by urban transport. Th e map-ping and analysis of existing transport-related plans (policies, etc.) represent a good starting

point towards better policy integration. It is im-portant to point out the confl icts in the plans and policies to the responsible departments and authorities. Similarly, city-based policies require coordination with regional and national goals and policies. A system is needed which checks ‘how’ and ‘whether’ forward-planning and other policy decisions will confl ict with each other.

All the plans that have been produced by NGOs, schools, local community groups and businesses should be included in the mapping process. Detailed discussion and research are needed with relevant regional or national stakeholders to include their policies, plans and procedures in the mapping process.

Th e next step is to go through and check the ob-jectives and goals (e.g., travel demand reduction, support of non-motorised modes of transport, sup-port for energy-effi cient transport, low emissions, a fair transport system with good accessibility for all citizen groups, clean and effi cient freight transport) in the identifi ed documents against the goals for sustainable urban transport. Check whether they are supporting or confl icting with the local SUTP goals. Th en decide which actions need to be taken to change or infl uence each of the confl icting goals: bring this list of actions to-gether in an action plan that also describes how the SUTP is related to the other policy docu-ments. Invite all relevant actors and stakeholders to discuss the confl icts identifi ed in the action plan. Try to agree on the changes that will be made to the plans and policies, who will make the changes and when.

Th ese changes will move the existing polices and plans from being in confl ict to supporting the goals of sustainable urban transport. Th e chang-es may take time to take eff ect, but should be endorsed by the political leadership.

15

Kouvola Region works for policy match

In Kouvola Region, the SUTP was connected also to the regional, state level and EU policies. “We need to look at policies all the way from top to down, making the whole process more coherent and infl uence policies and processes made by regional and national actors”, says Hannu Koverola, Planning Manager for the Kouvola Region Federation of Municipalities.

“Sustainable urban transport is one of our pri-orities. Authorities and organizations which decide on funding also play a key role also in implementing policies. Th e federation of mu-nicipalities is present in regional projects in a way or another, either being experts, fi nancer or coordinators.”

In Kouvola, an inter-sectoral working group was created as a result of the regional trans-port plan. Th e working group has representa-tives from Regional Council, Finnish Road Administration, Finnish Rail Administration, State provincial Offi ce and all seven munici-palities.

After the SUTP process started, the working group was extended to include regional public health services and regional public environ-ment center, as well as citizens and other rel-evant stakeholders. “Th e group bases its work on an agreement, a letter of intent signed by all relevant parties to implement traffi c policy in harmony with the Kouvola region transport system plan” Koverola says.

Th e challenge is to get all parties to stick to this agreement. Until now, policy coordination has been useful in planning land use. Th e target is to promote sustainable modes of transport by making it real all the way from cooperating on policies to implementing joint actions with suffi cient resources.


15

16


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

2.4 Involve and engage – Stakeholder cooperation and citizen participation

Why

Stakeholder cooperation is the involvement of and cooperation with citizens and other stakeholders like NGOs, businesses and other actors in a planning process. Th e UN/Habitat defi nes stakeholders as those

whose interests are aff ected by the issue or those whose activities strongly aff ect the issue

who possess information, resources and expertise needed for strategy formulation and implementation, and

who control relevant implementation or instruments

Stakeholder participation has a series of advantages:

Participatory policy making is more transparent and democratic

A decision made together with many stakeholders is based on more knowledge

Broad consensus is essential to improve the quality, acceptance, eff ectiveness and legitimacy of any plan

Stakeholder involvement improves the broader support of measures

Broad consensus and sense of participation in planning ensures the long-term acceptance and viability of strategies and measures.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Stakeholder involvement is the start-ing point for stimulating the behavioural changes that are needed to complement the technical actions necessary for the imple-mentation of a sustainable urban transport system. By involving sustainable transport opponents – like passionate car users – in stakeholder decision-making processes they are often converted into sustainable mov-ers!

How

Stakeholders and citizens should be involved and be able to participate early in the SUTP process. Stakeholders should be off ered opportunities to infl uence the key stages of the planning process: building the vision, defi ning objectives and tar-gets, measuring development, setting priorities and undertaking evaluation. Th e views of stake-holders and citizens are needed before plans are developed.

17


”Participation is a precondition for best quality

in planning process.”

Th ere are various degrees of involvement. ‘Informing’ is at one extreme whilst ‘delegating power’ or ‘empowering’ is at the other. To make a successful SUTP, it is highly recommended and entirely necessary to involve, collaborate with and form partnerships with stakehold-ers in the process. Depending on the degree of involvement and the nature of the stakeholder, various methods can be used that will encourage participation in the SUTP process.

Inform – One-way dissemination of informa-tion. Informing is needed as a part of the process of passing information to stakeholders about the progress of the SUTP work. Informing does not allow stakeholders to participate in the planning process for SUTP.

Consult – Two-way communication involve-ment; the receiving of information and input, through listening and reading, and then the ex-change of views regarding draft, early or outline ideas and suggestions for the SUTP.

Involve – Interactive discussion and dialogue that serves as a supplement to an existing city decision-making process. Collaborate – Stakeholder representatives at the

same table with the planners acting as active team members in formulating and recommend-ing alternatives. Th e fi nal decision is made by the city representatives.

Partnership – Form of joint decision-making by a shared agreement. Partnership is cooperation where both sides hold veto power over decisions. It is mainly used when cooperating with equal partners like NGOs and private enterprises.

18


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

In need of empowerment!

Highly affected by transport

Not affected by transport

Least important group

Not affecting transport

Potential for change!

Critical group - potential for behavioural change

Highly affecting transport

Empower - Decisions are made by a group or organization with specifi c delegation of power from the authorities: for example, youth parlia-ments and local boards.

If a city has a little experience of working with stakeholder participation, it is wise to start at a smaller scale. To build capacity, the stakeholder cooperation should start on a limited scale and be based on the learning experiences from stake-holder cooperation. With this learning, pilot projects can become mainstream procedures. Another way of attaining experience is to start on a lower level of participation with for exam-ple ‘involvement’ and grow more ambitious us-ing ‘partnerships’ as the organisation gains more capacity. It is benefi cial to involve a facilitator with mediation skills. Th e facilitator will inter-pret, arbitrate and mediate between the politi-cians/offi cers/planners and the stakeholders.

Stakeholder cooperation can be seen by politi-cians and professionals as a challenge to their credibility and reputation in the organisation. It is extremely important to be receptive and be aware that planning and decision-making need to be shared with people from a diverse range of backgrounds – both political and professional. Communication is crucial for a successful stake-holder process. Communicate successes, set backs, delays and reasons why a certain decision has been made.

Another way of looking at local stakeholders is to see them as experts in local circumstances and in their specifi c area of expertise. For exam-ple, the local residents of a street know exactly where street crossing is dangerous. Moreover, an organisation serving handicapped people will have a profound practical knowledge of the dif-fi culties with shopping in a wheelchair and what needs to be improved.

Stakeholder involvement Matrix

19


Checklist

Relevant citizen/private stakeholder groups are identifi ed

Is there a strategy for the involvement of the stakeholders

It is defi ned how they aff ect or are aff ected by municipal transport issues

Are relevant stakeholders involved in the SUTP work

It is advisable to start a citizen and stakeholder cooperation scheme in a city using careful plan-ning. First, decide on the goals of the stake-holder cooperation. Below is one example of the step-by-step process for a stakeholder coopera-tion plan for the whole SUTP process, enabling strategic stakeholder cooperation.

1. Defi ne an objective for your stakeholder co-operation; is it to enable more transparent decision-making, to gain more knowledge or something else with a specifi c goal. 2. Perform a stakeholder analysis to identify the stakeholder groups. Carry out a brainstorm within the inter-sectoral work ing group to identify who are the relevant stakeholders. Defi ne stakeholders within the public, as well as private and community sector. Place them in a Stakeholder involvement Matrix.

3. Create a table describing how various stakeholders groups will be involved at separate stages of the SUTP process and to what degree. Select the means of communication between the working group and the stakeholders and the methods that should be used. 4. Implement stakeholder participation using these steps in the various stages of the SUTP process. It is better to start with a less ambitious, but well planned and well-implemented stake holder process than with a very ambitious involvement process that may bring about disappointment.

20


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

“Give people a chance to be part of the process!”

Th e city of Tartu has carried out stakeholder cooperation seminars and working groups in preparing their SUTP. Th e city already had two existing transport related working groups. “We had an easy start, something to base our work on. In SUTP, our job was to expand these groups and generate a new cooperation model”, Marek Muiste, International Project Coordinator, tells.

Stakeholders include NGOs and private en-terprises, and the seminars were open to the general public. Th e participation of stake-holders has given the process real added value. Th e baseline review and SWOT analysis for the SUTP were also carried out with the help of stakeholder groups, as it was the case with the peer review report. “In SUTP, the stake-holders have in fact had very much power”, Muiste says.

Addressing the stakeholder groups needs careful planning. Th e more challenging part is changing the overall behaviour of the citi-zens: their participation is also a crucial ele-ment. Unawareness and ignorance can create an increasing number of cars. “And the bigger the car the better! Th ese are the kind of at-titudes we need to battle against.”

It is important to be clear on why the city should involve stakeholders. In Tartu, it has not been only about getting more support on the issue, but also building visions and set-ting targets. “Participation creates pressure on politicians. Issues related to the quality of life or health don’t always seem to be important for decision-makers.”

During the SUTP process, the city of Tartu has also been discussing overall sustainability and knowledge campaigns. It is worthwhile being optimistic, since raising the overall awareness is about expanding the knowledge from core stakeholder groups to the general public.

“During the SUTP process, our stakeholders have had good access to relevant information. Th e SUTP team and the stakeholders have be-come more aware of sustainable transport.”

21


2.5 Respect all – Equality and gender equity

Why

Gender equality means giving both genders equal access to services and equal oppor-tunity to infl uence the transport system. Use of transport diff ers between men and women. Although the gap has been clos-ing during the last couple of years, men in general still exhibit more non-sustainable travel behaviour than women. Although many studies have explored the reasons, no comprehensive explanation has been found as to why women use sustainable modes to a greater extent than men.

How

In the SUT planning process ensure that there is a gender balance in the inter-sectoral working group and all other groups involved. In stake-holder consultations ensure that all relevant groups of interest are equally represented.

One easy method to use is the 3R -method, where the organisation’s gender status is evalu-ated. Th is method helps to respond to the ques-tion “who gets what, and under which circum-stances”: in other words, how men and women are represented in the SUTP work and imple-mentation and how the resources are distributed

between the genders. In the inter-sectoral work-ing group, consider gender participation in each of the stages of the planning process:

Decision-makingInvolvement proceduresEmployment in the agencies involvedDesign of policies and measuresImplementationCollection and use of gender-disaggregated

data in the monitoring and evaluation of plans and strategies

••••••

22


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

Checklist

Gender equality is taken into account in the SUT planning process and within the SUT plan itself

Th ere is a balanced gender representation amongst decision-makers concerning transport issues

Th ere is equal accessibility for all groups considered in planning and decision-making (equity, e.g., for the handicapped, elderly or parents)

Furthermore, analyse the following questions:

Representation – How many men, how many women? Th e response to this question gives a view of the representation in political bodies, working groups, stakeholder groups and so on.

Resources – How are resources divided between men and women? Who gets the resources: mon-ey, time, information and space?

Reality – Under this heading the facts gathered in representation as well as the resources should be analysed to decide on the values and norms that guide the planning process and the munici-pal organisation to be visualised. Th e questions that will be answered are: Why is the representa-tion as it is? Who sets the norms in the organisa-tion and who gets the resources?

On the basis of the 3R analyses, it can be con-cluded if the SUT planning process promotes equality and whether the organisation is carry-ing out the SUTP in a way that promotes equal-ity. It also off ers a view on what can be changed in the planning process and how the organisa-tion can better promote equality. Th e results have links to the whole value base of the entire organisation. (3R method is developed by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, http://www.skl.se/).

23

Equality is about seeing things from different angles

Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

How to make sure there are equal opportu-nities for all members of the society to have infl uence over public transport? Th e balance between professional groups, diff erent age groups, gender and accessibility has been kept in mind in the SUTP process in Vilnius.

Aurelija Babiliute, Chief Specialist in Vilnius Healthy Cities Bureau, thinks it is important to count every possible opinion. Balance – re-gardless of whether this is about the balance between men and women, children and adults or the healthy and the disabled – means seeing transport issues from each and every angle.

Gender is one of the most complicated questions. “On a professional level, gender shouldn’t be an issue”, Babiliute says. “Th ere are certain professional fi elds that are male-dominated. But if the person is open-mind-ed, it shouldn’t make a diff erence.” And why not test bus stops, sidewalks, parking areas and safety with mothers – or fathers – tak-ing young children to day-care or the grocery store!

In Lithuania, there is a special diff erence be-tween the older and younger generations. Many users of public transport had a habit of using such services during the Soviet period. “It is sometimes diffi cult for them to see why younger generations are so enthusiastic about

high technology, or buying cars. It seems to be a goal for the younger generations.”

Children form the majority of bicycle users in Lithuania. So far, cycling has not been a major mode of transport in the cities. “Th ere are problems related to safety, and not enough parking lots for bicycles near the school yards. We need to take that into account in planning, and encourage children by already starting the education in kindergartens and schools.”

In Vilnius, the disabled have also been heard in public meetings. Th eir special needs are al-ways kept in mind when planning new things. “It is sometimes diffi cult in older parts of the city because of lack of space. For example, we can’t really change much at the Unesco World Heritage site.”


23

24


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

2.6 Keep on learning – Capacity building

Why

An SUTP requires a new way of thinking. Instead of expressions like ‘road capacity’, ‘road standards’ and ‘bottle necks’, the vo-cabulary should change to more sustain-able terms that are less orientated towards mechanical and engineering terms such as ‘intermodality’, ‘modal shift’ and ‘mobility management’. SUTP is also so much more than only transport planning. It involves sta-keholder cooperation, inter-sectoral work-ing methods, gender equality issues and accessibility issues – ‘unpaved ground’ for many ‘transport planners’. Th e process of stakeholder cooperation will provide op-portunities for offi cers and politicians to learn new skills, become aware of new concepts and deepen their appreciation of SUTP. Open-minded approaches will foster individual and organisational learning and build capacity for the SUTP.

Although the SUTP process itself is a capac-ity building process, it is advisable to map the capacity that already exists within the organisations working with SUTP. Th is can be done as part of the baseline review. Th e weaknesses within the capacity of the or-ganisation can be addressed in a periodically updated action plan for capacity building.

How

Assess the capacity of the staff and the organi-sation when conducting the baseline review. Suffi cient allocation of resources will be dealt with in the chapter dealing with assignment of responsibilities. A city administration that does have an existing system for mapping capacity should use it. Otherwise the following steps are helpful:

1. Assess the capacity under the diff erent headlines of the SUTP process2. Analyse the weaknesses of the organisation, the leadership and the staff 3. Prepare a simple action plan on how to overcome the weaknesses

Study visits and pilot actions are two useful models for attaining capacity in the fi eld of im-plementing good and eff ective measures in the SUTP:

Targeted practise transfer through study visits

1. Benchmarking – compare the city’s chal-lenges with those of other cities. Base some questions on your own targets asking the fol-lowing: How can we reach our targets? What other cities have struggled with the same chal-lenges or had the same targets? How have they acted? What results have they achieved? And most importantly – what can we learn from them? How can we make use of their experi-ences in our city?

2. Study visit - visit the city that has succeeded in meeting the challenge. Try to learn from the city’s experience and consider how to use its experiences in the implementation practice in your own city, in a targeted manner. 3. Transfer the practice – carry out a feasibility study. What are the diff erences in the cities, what are the similarities, how can their prac-tice be transferred to your city’s setting?4. Implement – adjust the practice to your local situation and start with a pilot action in your city to see if it will have a desired eff ect in the city. ‘Upscale’ the pilot action to the whole or part of the city.

Learning through pilot actions

1. Decide on the actions to be taken, and ensure they are ‘fi t for purpose’ – they will achieve the targets in the SUTP. Does the city need ‘mobility management’, ‘Local Environmental Zone’ or ‘traffi c calming plan’ or something similar to fulfi l the targets? 2. Small is beautiful - start in a smaller area of the city or in one theme of action. Carry out a baseline review (if the SUTP baseline review is not suffi ciently detailed), collect relevant data about the area or theme that needs to be changed and then prepare a plan to manage the implementation of the pilot action. 3. Implement the pilot action - monitor the progress carefully: did it have a desired eff ect according to the baseline review? Take notes of the side eff ects, synergies and unexpected outcomes.

25


Checklist

Suffi cient human resources to work with SUTP issues exists

Suffi cient know-how to work with SUTP issues exists

Opportunities to learn and to exchange experiences are off ered to staff

Politicians are involved in capacity building on SUTP issues

Th ere is a systematic approach to increase knowledge and experience on sustainable transport issues within the organisation exists (e.g., by pilot projects that can be scaled up)

4. Evaluating the pilot action – What are the underlying reasons for the outcomes?5. Based on this learning experience, make a decision on whether and how to upscale it to the whole city.

26


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

Promoting a new way of thinking in Örebro

Th e common view on sustainable transport was not so strong in Örebro when the SUTP process started. To change the situation, the city has used diff erent measures. A capac-ity-building assessment was carried out in a working group as part of the self-assessment, identifying the knowledge gaps among the employees. Th e fi nding was that the munici-pality has a good knowledge of transport-re-lated issues in detail but on various narrow fi elds.

“For many professionals a more holistic way of thinking can be a bit of a revolution”, says Per Elvingson, who started as a process man-ager for sustainable transport soon after the assessment.

To facilitate the implementation of Sustainable Urban Transport, a special unit – also respon-sible for raising the awareness among employ-ees and politicians – has been set up. Th e unit has, among other things, planned seminars focusing on the reduced need for cars through spatial planning.

In general, a new way of thinking is the key. “It must be established, especially among key persons, to make the process more powerful. An important part of capacity-building has been getting all key staff to agree on a com-mon analysis of the current situation. In this

respect, the SUTP template has been a very good tool.”

Meanwhile, it is important to look around at what others are doing beyond the municipal borders. “It is very important to provide our decision-makers with very practical, good ex-amples that have already been tested.”

International cooperation has become more important in this process. During the past few years, Örebro has focused on exchang-ing experiences. Study visits are an important part of that work. “On a national level, we are trying to build up an informal network for sustainable transport among cities of our own size in the region,” Elvingson says.

27


2.7 The name of the game – Scope and defi nition

Why

Th e scope and defi nition of the SUTP will vary depending on the local spatial, demo-graphic, economic, transport, mobility and social characteristics. It will also vary with the guidance given by each national govern-ment, the competencies given to the mu-nicipalities and the legal role of national transport agencies etc. Th e scope and defi -nition of the SUTP is a function of the local decisions that are taken on future visions, objectives and targets.

Th e scope of the SUTP is central to the process that has to be put in place to deliver the plan. Since the urban transport system does not end at the municipality borders it is crucial to keep the whole functional ur-ban area in mind when identifying both the scope and defi nition of the SUTP. Clearly defi ned geographical, organisational and technical boundaries to the SUTP are re-quired if it is to be eff ective.

How

Th e scope of the SUTP must be carefully con-sidered against existing plans, policies and strat-egies to ensure that any duplication or overlap is avoided. It may be appropriate to carry out a gap analysis between existing plans etc so that the SUTP processes and principles can be adopted and integrated during the revision of existing plans and strategies. Th is gap analysis will advise the changes that are required (new polices, new actions etc) and ensure a smooth transparent transformation from the existing strategies to the SUTP. Th e relationships between the SUTP and other corporate strategies and plans should be explicitly recorded and agreed by the political leadership.

Th e SUTP is a strategic document with a long term perspective. It is also a working document, where the continuing relevance of the policies and the successes of actions is monitored and evaluated -through annual or biannual reports. Th e work with SUTP is a dynamic process grad-ually developing a sustainable transport system over time; it is not a static master plan.

Th e scope of the SUTP must include consid-eration of the transport movements going into and out of the administrative boundary of the municipality. Th e geographical boundary of the SUTP should include the ‘functional urban area’ so that commuting and other transport fl ows travelling into and out of the urban area are included in the SUTP. Consequently an SUTP can only be prepared with the active par-ticipation of the neighbouring municipalities, regional bodies and national bodies. Th ese are

key stakeholders with whom agreement will be necessary to achieve many of the sustainability objectives in the SUTP.

Municipalities should consider the environ-mental and other impacts of the transport that arise from their procurement policies: deliveries; travel to work by pupils, patients, staff and poli-ticians; fl eets, contract and subcontractors’ vehi-cles, etc. As a major employer and the political leadership for the municipality, the municipality as an organisation has an obligation to have a comprehensive understanding of the impact of its policies and practice on the transport of the city.

28


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

Th ere is also an obligation to manage the sig-nifi cant aspects. Environmental Management Systems (EMS), e.g., ISO14001 or Eco Mana-gement and Audit Scheme (EMAS), provide a tool for organisations to understand and man-age the signifi cant direct and indirect environ-mental aspects of their activities and polices. Th e benefi ts of using an EMS should be explored as part of their SUTP management system.

Th ose cities that have overall sustainable de-velopment strategy with a long-term perspec-tive can embed the SUTP within this strategy. In such cases, SUTP can be integrated into a city’s overall management system such as the Integrated Management System (as devel-oped in Managing Urban Europe-25 project, www.mue25.net) or Environmental Manage-ment System (such as EMAS, ISO14001, ecoBUDGET© or similar).

Checklist

Th e area that the SUTP covers is clearly defi ned

Th e scope of the SUTP is clearly defi ned

Topics and development areas for the SUTP are clearly defi ned

Other policies and plans that are part of or are linked with the SUTP are transparent

29

Th e small resort city of Pärnu initiated their SUTP process from scratch in 2006. “Pärnu’s challenge has been to defi ne and scope the concept of SUTP to meet the needs of a small town that has some of the same chal-lenges as bigger cities but on a diff erent scale”, says Grete Kukk, Senior Specialist for Urban Development in Pärnu.

Transnational cooperation on SUTP develop-ment has made the city realize the need for a cross-sectoral approach in transport plan-ning, especially the need to integrate land-use and transport planning. On the local level, a number of specialists and stakeholders from various fi elds have been involved in the coop-eration to make the defi nition and scope for the Pärnu SUTP.

Similar challenges, different scale

As a result of the process, not only the scope and defi nition of Pärnu SUTP has been set but also a common vision for the whole functional city region has been derived. “Making the quality of urban environment and living better is the key for Pärnu in the future”, Kukk says.

Th e SUTP scope and defi nition are set to the same targets. Th erefore, the scope is to diminish the use of cars by developing a fair, accessible and attractive public transport system, by de-veloping concrete bicycle policy for the city and by handling the seasonal transport problems ac-companied by tourists.

Pärnu has taken the most important fi rst steps to get started with the development of a sus-tainable urban transport. It has been possible by agreeing on the SUTP scope and defi ni-tion in cooperation with the cross-sectoral stakeholders and together with a transnational experience exchange. Although there is still a long way to go, the most important thing is to get started.


30

Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

30


2.8 Starting position – Baseline review

How

Th e baseline review needs to be based on exist-ing data, and as all cities already have some data sets this activity can be carried out quickly and early. It is important to understand the diff erent functions and characteristics of data sets, how particular data sets are used to measure pres-sures/drivers; the state of the mobility/transport: how some data sets are used to deduce trends and are used for modelling and forecasting. Completing a baseline review requires the nec-essary resources to be in place that allow the data sets to be collated, reviewed and decisions to be taken on how they are used to inform policy se-lection/refi nement and adoption. Th e selection of data sets needs to be based on criteria that are agreed on with stakeholders, who are then actively involved in contributing data.

Why

To be able to reach your goals, you fi rst need to know your starting position. A starting point for successful SUTP work is a baseline review, an honest description of the city’s current transport situation. A baseline review will give the city a clear picture of the current transport situation and how sustainable it is. It will provide a review of eff ectiveness of existing processes to man-age the transport; it will identify the drivers that infl uence traffi c development and the impacts of traffi c. A baseline review is the starting point for the SUTP process from which it is possible to move to the target-setting, action plan and monitoring, etc. Th e basic self-assessment for making the base-

line review has four elements;

1. Municipality profi le2. Drivers3. Impacts4. SUTP benchmark (plans, policies and actions)

Th e baseline review identifi es successes and the potential for improvement in the SUT planning process and transport system. It also helps the city to identify the ‘drivers’ and ‘impacts’ of the mobility and transport system and its develop-ment. Th e baseline review identifi es those geo-graphical areas and transport modes where tar-gets for sustainable urban transport should be agreed. It also sets the baseline for continuous

31


monitoring of the city’s urban transport with clear indicators and targets. Th e baseline review can be carried out internally within the city by self-assessment process, but combining the self-assessment with external peer review can add additional value to the process. Th e baseline re-view allows actions to be prioritised and to then monitor the eff ects on relevant indicators.

Th e most demanding element is to compare the present situation with the one described in the benchmark. Th e purpose is to describe the exist-ing collected plans, strategies, actions, and tar-gets of the city and the gap between them and the SUTP benchmark. Th e description in the benchmark is called a ‘gap analyses’. It explains the diff erences between the current practise in the city and the SUTP benchmark. Th e bench-mark describes the characteristics that should be evident within a SUTP. It is an ideal that the cities are moving towards and can compare their performance with. It is important to recognise the benchmark as aspirational, representing an entirely new way of thinking and working to ad-dress sustainable urban transport. Th ere are few municipalities in Europe that can evidence all the characteristics within the benchmark.

Th e fi rst part of the benchmark invites the city to describe the processes that have been used in preparing their plans, strategies, actions, and tar-gets. Th is description is made against the ‘ideal’ characteristics of the benchmark for preparing SUT planning.

Th e second part of this benchmark invites the city to describe the cumulative content of their plans, strategies, actions, and targets. Th is de-

scription is contrast against the ‘ideal’ character-istics of the SUTP benchmark.

Th rough the internal self-assessment process, a city will complete an initial analysis of the gap between its existing plans and policies and the SUTP benchmark. To continue the self-assess-ment process with an external peer review will enable the city to have more revealing and valu-able gap analysis of their performance and the benchmark.

32


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

Self-assessment process

1. Select the review team – preferably the in-ter-sectoral working group 2. Assign tasks to team members – divide the municipality profi le, drivers, impacts and the SUTP benchmark in the self-assessment tem-plate among the team members3. Establish review schedule4. Collect the baseline data through the help of the self-assessment template5. Analyse the data and the gaps in the team6. Write the self-assessment report – be honest and truthful, as an unfair report does not serve any purpose.

Th e self-assessment report is the starting point of the city’s continued work with the SUTP and the monitoring of its success. If the self-assess-ment process is continued and combined with a peer review, the report serves also as the fi rst step of the peer review process.

Peer review

Th ere are many diff erent defi nitions and models for a peer review. Here, peer review is understood as a method where ‘critical friends provide in-dependent assessment of city’s progress towards benchmark(s)’. Th us peer review is a ‘perform-ance assessment’. It is the ‘considered judge-ment’ (assessment) of experts on the ‘progress being made’ (performance) by cities towards a benchmark (or ‘ideal’). Peer review off ers an honest third-party review of achievements and future prospects of the reviewed city. It is cost eff ective method and often a more politically ac-ceptable alternative to consultants.

Th e work of the peer review in baseline review process is to carry out an external gap analysis – to assess the diff erence or gap that exists between the actual performance of the city partner and the benchmark. Th e actual performance of the city will be determined by the peers from their consideration of the self-assessment report, to-gether with the answers given to their questions during the peer review visit. Th e peer review team will carry out their performance assess-ment and draw conclusions about the progress that the municipality is making towards sustain-able urban transport.

Peer reviews can be conducted in various fi elds, but a particular peer review model for sustain-able urban transport has been developed for this guidance in BUSTRIP –project. Th e peer review conducted by this model can provide construc-tive criticism on a city’s current progress towards sustainable urban transport systems, and iden-tify the key issues as well as make recommenda-

tions for actions in order to help the city to ac-celerate their progress towards sustainable urban transport systems.

Th e peer review system provides an independ-ent review of the progress being made in the cities towards sustainable urban transport. Peer reviews on sustainable urban transport should be carried out by external experts who work in other cities or organisations in similar fi elds of expertise. Th e peer review can only be done against a benchmark (in this case SUTP bench-mark). A self-assessment process and report is a prerequisite that provides the peers the informa-tion they need to conduct the review.

33


Checklist

Drivers for transport development in the city are identifi ed

What and who infl uences the drivers is identifi ed

Development trends for each driver are listed

Positive drivers are listed, analysis of possible supporting actions performed

Negative drivers are listed, analysis of possible actions to infl uence drivers performed

A set of measurable indicators that can be used to describe the traffi c situation and traffi c impacts in the city has been developed

Reliable measurement values available for all indicators

34

Turku navigates with the baseline review

Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

34


“Self-assessment took more time and eff ort than we expected, but it certainly was one of the most fruitful parts of the SUTP process”, says Mikko Laaksonen who edited the report in Turku. He works as a promoter of walking and cycling in the city planning offi ce. Th e team collected, combined and made con-clusions about basic data under each SUTP benchmark from sources that were already available: the city’s own fi les, that from the Regional Council of Southwest Finland, re-search by the Turku School of Economics and the University of Turku.

Laaksonen says the results in the self-assess-ment report weren’t unexpected. “We found a lot of gaps, as we had expected. But it was surprising that the situation was moving in a more non-sustainable direction than we thought. Almost all the drivers were showing that the city, in sailing terms, may soon hit the rocks if we stay on this track.”

Th e self-assessment report of 108 pages was condensed in a summary of 17 pages for the use of internal communication and dissemina-tion of the results to stakeholders and media.

Th e larger report was sent to the peer review team, which carried on building the picture of the state of sustainable transport. Th e peer-review fi nally crystallized the challenges: plan-

ning that favours hypermarkets, urban sprawl and the lack of regional cooperation, due to the competing neighbouring municipalities.

A positive fi nding was the fact that Turku has a relatively compact structure and every pos-sibility to further develop sustainable urban transport. At the time of the report, about 50 percent of the trips are made by sustain-able modes. “Th e city needs to realize these strengths. If Turku followed its strategies, it would be a model city of sustainable trans-port. Implementation should be as ambitious as the strategies”, he says.

Th e self-assessment and the peer review both helped to understand the state of the art in the city and the challenges lying ahead.

35


2.9 Guiding star – Vision

Why

Th e vision for sustainable urban transport in the future is the guiding star of the city’s SUTP work. It points out the direction in which the city wants to head. A comparison between the vision and the city’s current situation is the basis for identifying what action and development is needed to reach the desired. Th e SUTP work is a systematic approach to gradually get closer to the vi-sion. Th e vision has to be interrelated to and reached through SMART targets and objectives. Otherwise the vision is never achieved.

Th e vision serves as the uniting component that all stakeholders can refer to; meaning everyone from leading politicians to citizens and interest groups. Th e vision can also be used for marketing the city to the rest of the world. People want to be part of something great and new – inspire your community!

How

Th e vision should be the guiding star of the whole process; it should be realistic but still pro-vide something new, add real value and break some old boundaries that do not have real justi-fi cation anymore. Th e vision should describe the desired future of the city and if possible, visual-ise it. Th e vision can even be used as a marketing tool to clearly communicate the city’s aspiration. A vision needs to be ambitious but possible to

achieve for the city. A city needs to consider its starting position when defi ning a vision. When the city has created a vision that is focused, spe-cifi c and easy to understand then it will be easier to defi ne the SMART targets and objectives for the SUTP process. Th e monitoring of the proc-ess will also follow more easily when the vision is specifi c.

36


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

Checklist

Th e city has a defi ned vision of how transport/traffi c in the city should develop

Th e vision is compatible with other outspoken development visions and objectives in the city

Th e vision is such that concrete objectives and targets can be described on its basis

Th e city may choose to involve stakeholders in the process to get more new and bold ideas and also to use the stakeholder process as the start-ing point of behavioural change in the city. To break the boundaries of peoples’ minds a future scenario vision from diff erent perspectives is a useful and educational working method. Create scenarios like “the car-free city”, “the industrial city” and “the healthy city”. Describe how the city would look like in each and every scenario. Gather a group of people for a brainstorm ses-sion involving all relevant stakeholders.

37

SUTP works towards the vision in Göteborg

City of Göteborg has a long-term vision for sustainable urban transport. In brief the vi-sion is ‘Effi cient, safe and sustainable trans-port for everyone’. Since Göteborg has for long had several documents closely connected to Sustainable Urban Transport Plan, the lo-cal SUTP process has its starting point in the need of a connecting approach, an easy over-view and content management on existing programmes, plans and policies. “Although the vision is clear, the challenge was to see what really has been decided, if some of the objectives and targets to reach the vision were no longer valid, if new ones should have been added, and fi nd out if there was overlapping objectives and targets”, says Gunilla Fransson, a Project Manager in Mobility Management.

Th e vision for sustainable urban transport and the SUTP process need to be connected to the overall views on how to develop the city. However, in Göteborg, like in many other cit-ies, the yearly budget prioritises the objectives in short term. Th e plans and policies have to be well prepared to give the politicians the possibility to make good decisions. Active communication with and involvement of internal and external stakeholders is also im-portant. In Göteborg, since some years, it was clearly stated in the city council budget that

the work of the administrations should work towards sustainable development in all three perspective, social, economic and ecologic.

In Göteborg city administration the Traffi c and Public Transport Authority is the respon-sible body for the integrative SUTP process. In practice, the process has been all about combining, updating and clarifying the work that had already been done. “To be success-ful we have to work on several fi elds and with several plans, but towards the same goal, the vision, in all sectors of the city administra-tion”, says Fransson.

Göteborg is carrying out SUTP related image campaigns such as New travel habits and Safe and beautiful city which are examples of suc-cessful cooperation between diff erent admin-istrations. “Collaboration between the diff er-ent administrations and other stakeholders and actors of urban transport is extremely important for reaching the vision”, Fransson concludes.

37


38


Plan

nin

g p

roce

ss

2.10 Find the resources – Identifying fi nances

Why

Th e successful implementation of an SUTP requires that suffi cient resources are always available for the planning process and im-plementation. Th e municipality should allo-cate the necessary resources in the annual budget and make the commitment in the forward (3-5 year) planning budget. As municipality resources are scarce, there will always be competition for available human and fi nancial resources. Th erefore, eff orts should be continuously made to fi nd alter-native sources of human and fi nancial re-sources. Th e SUTP is a corporate priority: ‘searching for’ and ‘allocating’ the necessary resources for planning and implementation must be one of the political priorities in the municipality.

SUTP off ers a new, functional approach to traffi c and transport challenges. Th is pro-vides the opportunity to re-allocate fi nances and resources previously used only to invest in and maintain the transport infrastruc-ture. Successful SUTP actions will reduce the long-term direct and indirect costs as-sociated with transport. In considering the costs of an SUTP, municipalities need to place value on SUTP actions – the benefi ts to health, quality of life and attractiveness of the city.

How

Ensuring that suffi cient resources are available for SUT planning and implementation is an ongoing process that must be carried out in partnership with the key transport and mobility stakeholders. An open dialogue is needed that is informed by the assessment of costs and benefi ts of the SUTP actions.

Th e ways in which the human and fi nancial resources available from the municipality and stakeholders are being used for the SUTP need to be checked in order to confi rm that the re-sources are being effi ciently and eff ectively used. Do we have the right people with the right skills doing the right tasks at the right time, and do they have the right support? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, the human re-sources of the municipality and stakeholder will have to be managed in a diff erent way – perhaps through new job descriptions, decision-making structures, companies and people.

‘Least-cost planning’ provides a cost/benefi t ana-lysis for a variety of potential solutions to a given transport problem. An example is a commuter road heavily congested during peak hours. Tra-ditionally, road capacity would be extended to solve the problem. In least-cost planning, however, this option would be compared with other measures to reduce congestion, e.g., pric-ing, mobility management measures, improved public transport, etc. Th e most cost-effi cient measure to solve the problem is then chosen and – depending on who benefi ts – the costs of the measures can be shared between stakeholders.

Part of the least-cost approach involves identi-fying new sources of capital and revenue fund-ing for investment and maintenance. New in-vestments in housing, shopping, and industry require parallel investments in new transport infrastructure, etc. Innovative planning agree-ments and conditions on the granting of build-ing permits can require the investors and de-velopers to share the capital and revenue costs associated with making the transport and mo-bility of these areas sustainable – a new cycling lane, extending a rapid transit route, etc. Where the municipality is selling land for development, these can be clauses in the contracts.

39


Checklist

Innovative approaches are used to generate the capital and revenue fi nance necessary for the SUTP

Th e least-cost approach is used

Th ere is an understanding of who bears the costs and who benefi ts from the SUTP actions

Th e opportunities for grant aid, loans and pilot projects are thoroughly explored

PPP are used to share the costs and to generate additional fi nancial resources

Th e principles of ‘polluter pays’ and of charg-ing an ‘economic rent’ should be used in decid-ing the charges that are made for parking and causing congestion. Th ese charges will be of par-ticular interest to businesses, as they aff ect their direct and indirect costs.

Th e liberalisation of the public transport mar-ket provides the opportunity for municipalities to review the responsibilities for providing the capital investment for the fl eets, signalling, in-frastructure, and soft measures, etc. It also pro-vides the opportunity to decide how subsidies are provided and how profi ts are shared. Public private partnerships (PPP) are opportunities for sharing the costs and the risks associated with implementing almost any of the SUTP actions. PPP can even sell or market the attractiveness of development sites to inward investors.

Securing grant aid and loans towards planned investments as well as participating in pilot projects can provide the necessary resources to overcome funding gaps. National, European and International sources of grant aid and loans, not just from the obvious transport sector sourc-es like CIVITAS, Intelligent Energy, Marco Polo, but also from the relevant regional, social, health, educational and environmental funding sources (LIFE+, INTERREG, Framework pro-grammes) can be utilised. It is important to be disciplined in searching for such fi nancial assist-ance – do not be distracted from the planned SUTP actions, timetable and objectives. Do not be tempted to participate in what seems an in-teresting project but is, in fact, a distraction and diversion of resources – carefully consider how participating in a project and the conditions at-

tached to any loan or grant may help achieve the objectives of the SUTP.

Use city networks, contact twinned cities and/or use other international channels to fi nd partners that are already planning to implement suitable projects. If no suitable projects exist and you have the capacity, develop your own project idea and seek partners. A variety of project databases are available where project consortia are looking for partners.

40


Imple

men

tation

3. IMPLEMENTATION

3.1 Introduction

Th e following chapters describe the essential steps in the implementation of a Sustainable Urban Transport Plan. Following on from the planning process these fi ve implementation steps ensure the successful adoption, approval and implementation of the SUTP.

Th e fi rst three chapters on ‘objectives and tar-gets’, ‘allocating fi nances’ and ‘assignment of responsibilities’ parallel the similar and related steps in planning process. Each step helps to move the city towards a more sustainable trans-port system and ‘making a diff erence’.

Th e latter two chapters on ‘adoption and ap-proval’ and ‘monitoring and assessment’ are cen-tral to the success of the SUTP. Th ey provide the political and technical foundation for the SUTP and can deliver a ‘step change’ in the policy and practice of urban transport. Th ey can guarantee that the SUTP is a ‘living document’.


Sustainable Urban

Transport Plan

Our city


41

3.2 Make it SMART – Objectives and targets

Why

A vision will remain nothing more than a dream unless it is accompanied by clear objectives and relevant targets which, when achieved, will make that dream a reality. Appropriately defi ned objectives and targets provide the basis for monitoring the SUTP.

SUTP targets and objectives should be in-tegrated with those in the relevant regional, national and EU strategies and action plans. Targets and objectives alike should include details of the key dates when progress to-wards them will be monitored in addition to when ‘interim’ and fi nal achievement is expected.

How

Objectives should be expressed in general terms, so that the range of options to meet them can be considered. Th e objectives must contribute to the vision. Objectives are preferably expressed in terms of the desired outcomes and related to people’s daily life. Th e objectives need to have a time frame of 5-10 years.

Targets are the ‘stepping stones’ on the path to reaching a city’s objectives and visions.

Targets help to meet challenges and to achieve change - the ‘drivers’ and the ‘impacts’ analysis in the ‘self assessment report’ help to understand the greatest challenges facing a city and those areas in which changes can have the greatest impact.

•

‘Quick wins’ are actions that help to build confi dence, support and momentum and reach the targets – they achieve the greatest and quickest change with the fewest resources. Use the baseline review as the starting point.

•

42


Imple

men

tation

• Targets have to be SMART:

Specifi c – precisely described using quantitative and/or qualitative terms that are understood by all stakeholders.

Measurable – the current ‘situation’ or ‘state’ is known and has been measured. Resources are also in place to measure the changes (qualitative and quantitative) that occur.

Achievable – based on the technical, operational and fi nancial competencies available and stake-holder agreements/commitments that have been made

Realistic –based on the risks that are known and managed as well as the resources available.

Timed –‘interim’ progress (qualitative and quan-titative) is defi ned with key dates for the achieve-ment (of targets or objectives)

As an example, an SUTP target might be:

“Th e Lundby Partnership will increase the propor-tion of total travel to work trips made by cycle from 10% (2007) to 12% in 2008, 14% in 2009 and 20% by 2010. Th e partners have committed the fi nancial and human resources to carry out a timed and planned programme of capital investment (new infrastructure) and soft measures (education and incentives). Progress towards the targets will be monitored annually as well as the revisions to the targets agreed by the partnership in consultation with stakeholders.”

When defi ning targets that aff ect or demand actions by various stakeholders, involving the concerned stakeholders is crucial. For example, large employers in the city should be involved in infl uencing work travel. Involving citizens and NGOs in target-setting can form the basis for behavioural change.

Measures are actions that, when carried out, will achieve a planned change. Actions, when completed, achieve a target. Th e SUTP should include measures that are expressed as actions to be carried out in the ‘short’, ‘medium’ and ‘long’ term. Th e SUTP involves monitoring the suc-cess of these measures in achieving the SUTP

targets and objectives. Short-term measures hap-pen now, this year and next year. Th ey deliver ‘quick wins’ and build a sound foundation for the success of the medium-term measures that deliver the planned changes over the next 2-5 years. Th e long term measures are made up of annual/short-term measures implemented ‘bit by bit’ that together deliver the vision: such ac-tions as constructing new rapid transit systems, providing cycle safety training for all children, etc. Without these, the SUTP will never be achieved.

43


Checklist

Objectives, targets and measures with the SUTP have been clearly defi ned

Th ere are specifi c objectives for personal transport

Th ere are specifi c objectives for freight transport

Target values have been defi ned for the city’s transport indicators

Time plan has been decided on when the target values should be reached

List of planned SUTP actions has been defi ned

Th e expected eff ect of the planned actions have been assessed

Th e actions are suffi cient to reach the cities targets

Th ere is no SUTP targets that lack defi ned actions to reach them

To form feasible strategies, the measures defi ned should be ranked according to their feasibility. Actions that are easy to implement should be taken fi rst (quick wins). Th e selected actions should be checked for their potential for further progress later on, they should be ‘fl exible plat-forms’ to implement visionary actions and not lead to lock-ins in the wrong directions.

44


Imple

men

tation

3.3 Earmark the resources – Allocating fi nances

Why

Suffi cient and appropriately allocated fi -nances are a prerequisite for the successful implementation of the SUTP. Th e fi nance must be available to implement the ac-tions identifi ed in the SUTP and within the planned timeframe. Planned actions without the necessary human and fi nancial resources are nothing but aspirations that cannot be implemented and are bound to fail.

How

Actions to implement SUTP policies and plans can only be carried out if there are suffi cient resources available – people with the necessary time and competencies, money to pay for infra-structure investments, and to pay for printing, consultancy, specialist, information technology, stakeholder involvement etc. Th e ‘fi nancing plan’ for each action must be explicit in describ-ing all the costs associated with the successful implementation of the action within the agreed timeframe. Contingency resources fi nance and time should be included to allow for unmanaged risks. Some actions will require indemnifi cation against delays or unexpected costs.

Checklist

Th ere is a fi nance plan for each action

Th ere is an implementation plan for each action

Th ere is a time plan for the suggested actions

Suffi cient funds have been allocated for the suggested actions

Each action must have an ‘implementation plan’ that provides the details of “who does what, where, when and how, what are the monitor-ing and reporting arrangements, and who pays for what and when”. Th e implementation plan for some of the SUTP ‘medium term’ and ‘long term’ actions may include ‘preparatory actions’ : making applications for grant or loan funding, persuading stakeholders to contribute required human and operational resources, purchasing land, or making changes to the legislation, etc. Th ese preparatory actions must be completed before the necessary resources are in place to im-plement the SUTP actions. Until these prepara-tory actions are completed, the SUTP action is

only an aspiration – the necessary resources are not yet available. Th e SUTP must diff erentiate and distinguish any actions for which resources are not yet available.

Each SUTP action must be implemented ac-cording to a schedule. Th is schedule is prepared as based on the availability of the resources and the priority of each action. ‘Quick win’ actions are a priority, for the reasons outlined above.

45


The right actions and fi nance allocation for SUTP

Th e city of Gdynia has been successful in defi ning the SUTP actions and in identify-ing and allocating fi nances for the SUTP re-lated investment and development needs in the city. Alicja Pawlowska, Coordinator in Traffi c Engineering Department, tells that the city has implemented several urban transport projects co-funded by European Union, in-cluding Intelligent Management Systems, safe crossroads and biking paths.

To facilitate and secure the fi nancial basis for the urban development Gdynia follows and takes actively part in international funding programmes. In addition to the European Cohesion Funds, the city has participated in European Framework Programmes and in Baltic Sea Region INTERREG Programmes.

Th e experiences from Gdynia confi rm that realistic and properly allocated fi nances are prerequisites for successful implementation of the SUTP. Th e actions defi ned in the SUTP must be realistic and a way of checking that is to investigate if it exist proper fi nances to implement them. “It is to identify the actions that fulfi ll the targets in a suffi cient way and it is to fi nd and allocate adequate fi nances to the actions planned in the SUTP”, says Pawlowska.

In Gdynia one of the biggest recent transport investments has been the implementation of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) on one of the main communication arteries in the whole urban region. It allows public trans-port to have priority in traffi c lights on the intersections. According to Pawlowska it also reduces traffi c and makes the traffi c in the city more effi cient.

In another example the local authorities want-ed to improve the safety of pedestrians in the city. “Th en we successfully applied European Funds for a fi nancial support for rebuilding three dangerous crossroads”, says Pawlowska. From these and many other cases Gdynia has learnt that good and realistic project ideas and action plans and well-defi ned fi nancial alloca-tion plans are also preconditions for positive funding decisions.

46


Imple

men

tation

3.4 Take the positions – Assignment of responsibilities

Why

All too often the responsibility for imple-menting plans is not agreed to or is unclear. Th is is usually a contributing factor to the implementation failure of plans and the lat-ter doing little more than gather dust on the shelves.

If people are given responsibility, encour-agement, resources and are motivated, things happen! When actions result in suc-cess, changes happen! Without all of these characteristics, the same people will see barriers and problems rather than solutions and opportunities. Th e SUTP needs to be managed by an organisation that supports people in their work, where there is an at-titude of ongoing learning, and where mis-takes and failures are opportunities for the organisation and individuals to learn - not the chance to blame someone! And all suc-cesses should be celebrated – if you want more of them!

How

A municipal unit/department and a named per-son/position (e.g., head of department) should be assigned overall responsibility for the imple-mentation of the SUTP. Th is unit should be given a clear mandate to coordinate SUTP work within the municipality. Because of the inter-sectoral nature of SUTP work, responsibility for specifi c areas or fi elds of SUTP work can how-ever be distributed to diff erent municipal de-partments. For each area and task, a responsible person, goals and milestones should be defi ned.

Th e coordinator with the overall responsibility for the implementation of the SUTP should en-sure that progress is monitored and milestones reported.

If the city has some kind of performance-related remuneration/benefi t system – for example, per-formance-based salary increments – this could be used as an incentive for active participation and achievement of the goals defi ned in the SUTP.

47


Checklist

Responsibilities clearly assigned in the SUTP work

Each proposed measure has been assigned to a responsible unit/person

Each unit/person has suffi cient resources to realise the measures planned

Ensure that each planned action has been as-signed suffi cient funding in the budget and that one person/position is responsible for imple-mentation.

Many actions may need to be implemented through inter-sectoral cooperation or in partner-ship with stakeholders. Nevertheless, one person within the municipality should be assigned as responsible and the progress should be moni-tored. Again it is of importance to stress that the actions should be on the right ambition level, in accordance with the amount of funding as-signed and the responsibility of the person. For example, an action that requires high-level sup-port in city and council decision-making should not be assigned to a junior offi cer.

Th e level of ambition of each task and action should match the assigned and available resourc-es in addition to the capacity of the responsible department.

48


Imple

men

tation

Checklist

Th e SUTP has been presented to and discussed by diff erent political parties

It is clearly defi ned on what level/by whom the SUTP needs to be adopted and approved to be valid (e.g., the city council)

3.5 Make it for real – Adoption and approval

Why

A less ambitious and politically approved SUTP is more powerful than a highly am-bitious and politically unsupported plan. It is extremely important for the successful implementation of the SUTP that it is po-litically accepted, the progress is monitored, and that its progress is reported to the po-litical leadership.

It is equally important that the principles and reasons for an SUTP are understood and supported by the political leaders of the municipality and the whole organisation. Only then will the SUTP become a power-ful tool to achieve a more sustainable trans-port system. Local politicians and impor-tant actors in the city should therefore be informed and involved from the very begin-ning of the SUTP discussions. Preferably, local politicians are actively involved in the process of developing a transport vision and the development of an SUTP. Active involvement of politicians from the outset will also facilitate the future approval and adoption of the plan.

How

Th e SUTP must be ‘owned’ by the stakeholders, who will carry out the implementation and pro-vide the human and fi nancial resources. It must be owned by the political leadership that will formally and legally adopt and approve the plan. It is never too early in the SUTP preparation phase to involve the political representatives. Local, regional and national politicians can all make a contribution through the stakeholder participation events and in the visioning, setting of objectives and targets. Th e responsible offi cers should not only try to involve politicians from the boards dealing with public transportation and transport but also from the environmental/sustainability, social, educational and planning boards.

Because the actions in the SUTP require the commitment of resources beyond the mandate of a single administration it is desirable to create a broad political consensus for the plan in or-der to ensure its long-term support and stability, regardless of changes in the political leadership.

Discussions will be needed at the highest level to agree on the way in which political groups and parties are involved in the SUTP.

Th e purpose is to allow all political parties and representatives to ‘own’ the plan – to do so it must refl ect as many perspectives and views as possible. Th is will then increase the chances of political and stakeholder support and adoption. Each city will need to decide what is the appro-priate political committee/council/board/body that will adopt and approve the SUTP. It will also decide if the same body will be responsible for monitoring, evaluating and reviewing the progress of the SUTP – these regular progress reports provide the intelligence needed to learn from mistakes and failures as well as celebrate and reinforce successes – this will ensure that politicians keep the SUTP as relevant and valid in its contribution to the sustainability of the transport system as possible.

49


Sundsvall bases plans on wide consensus


Before the 1990s, Sundsvall had a severe im-age problem. “With all its industry and traffi c problems, a usual question was ‘how can you live in Sundsvall?’”, says Christer Tarberg, Head of Public Transport.

Th e city, with the support of its politicians, started a project aiming at reducing the emis-sions from energy production and industries by the year 2000. “Th e results were rather good. But by 2000 we still had one problem, traffi c. Back then 72 percent of the trips were made by private cars.”

By the time Sundsvall started its SUT plan along with the BUSTRIP project, the city had already started creating a town vision with the support of the vice-mayor, other politicians, various municipal departments and stakehold-ers. Th e fi nal decision on the vision was made in consensus in the city council in 2007.

“Th e timing for SUTP was right. But we didn’t just look at the traffi c plan. Transport strategy was a continuation to the town vision which has a lot of political acceptance from political parties, ordinary citizens and stakeholder. All opinions were collected. After doing all that work it would be diffi cult to disagree on it.”

Two major problems in Sundsvall regarding transport were the railroad crossing the city centre and the passing European Road 4 (E4), looking rather cheerless, bare surfaces of as-phalt leading through the city. “Our vision and plans include building the railroad un-derground and a travel centre above it, and developing the E4 into more of a boulevard-and – city-type style, with lots of trees and a new bridge.”

Th e plan also included building houses closer to the city centre and supporting the use of public transport, walking and cycling. “We will proceed step by step; hopefully the situa-tion is better by the year 2010”, Tarberg says, and adds this advice: “Rely on other stake-holders and institutions before solving prob-lems”.

50


Imple

men

tation

Why

Monitoring and evaluation are essential management tools that provide intelligence to inform SUTP decision-taking. Th is in-telligence provides information on the progress of policies, plans and programmes, on whether targets are achieved on time and actions achieve their planned outcomes, on costs, and with regard to changes in data sets, etc. Th is intelligence allows decision-makers to manage the SUTP to deliver objectives and meet targets effi ciently and within budget. Th is intelligence helps the municipality, politicians and technical of-fi cers to understand how small scale initia-tives can contribute to meeting objectives and targets. When this intelligence is shared with stakeholders, it can help to build part-nerships.

How

Monitoring means; collecting the data that is re-quired to examine whether an SUTP target is achieved. Monitoring provides the indicators of performance, and the data that describes the changes that are taking place. Monitoring pro-vides the intelligence necessary for evaluation.

Evaluation produces lessons learned – the un-derstanding and meaning of the intelligence and information gathered in monitoring. Th is means assessing, interpreting and judging this informa-tion and making recommendations about what changes to make to SUTP policies, plans and programmes. It promotes change, effi ciency and improvement.

Indicators can be measurements of pressures, features or the eff ectiveness of plans and pro-grammes. Th ey can be based on physical, eco-nomic, environmental, social, technical or politi-

cal changes over time and can be either objective or subjective. Monitoring gathers the measure-ments of the changes in the data for each indica-tor. Objectives and targets have to be expressed in terms of the planned or desired changes to indicators within a given time period.

3.6 Keep the right track – Monitoring and assessment

51


Embrace monitoring and evaluation

All SUTP plans, policies and programmes of action within municipalities are the result of evaluating a problem and agreeing on a solution. Implicit to this process are the changes that the municipality wishes to achieve, as represented by an indicator or performance (air quality/cy-cling, children walking to school, etc.)

Select measurable indicators

While the overall ‘vision’ (see section 2.9.) and the ‘objectives and targets’ (see section 3.2.) can be more general (such as “excellent air qual-ity”), indicators should be focused, measurable and realistic, e.g., ‘number of days with PM below limit value’. Only measurable indicators allow performance monitoring, evaluation, pro-gramme adjustment and reporting.

Integrating monitoring and evaluation

Th ere should be an explicit timetable for the monitoring and evaluation of progress towards each SMART target – which must be based on measurable and measured indicators. Th e time-table for monitoring and evaluation should be designed to collect data at relevant times, also to allow for the recommendations from the evalu-ation to be available to decision-makers. Th is allows plans, policies and programmes to be re-vised as based on the lessons learned.

Resources for monitoring and evaluation

Th e choice of targets and indicators should include an assessment of the costs associated with collecting the data necessary to monitor progress. It should also include an assessment of the costs of evaluation being carried out by a competent and/or independent organisation. Th ese assessments should include a calculation of the human resources, time and costs required. Th ere is a need for the roles, responsibilities and accountability for monitoring and evaluation to be clearly allocated as part of the SUTP work plan. Consideration should be given to the ben-efi ts of external independent objective monitor-ing and evaluation with unedited public report-ing to provide transparent accountability.

Evaluation

Th e evaluation should include both “soft” and “hard” fi ndings and recommendations. Hard fi ndings refer to the progress towards measur-able objectives and indicators. Th is information can be used to derive key changes, such as in-creasing the target for the number of days with PM below limit value. Soft fi ndings should in-clude implementation experiences, fulfi lment of overall goals, levels of awareness, impact on gen-der equality and accessibility, etc. Th e MOST-MET monitoring & evaluation toolkit, a guide for the Assessment of Mobility Management approaches, can be used when evaluating the soft measures. MOST-MET method is devel-oped by the European project MOST (Mobility Management Strategies development for the next Decades, http://mo.st).

52


Imple

men

tation

Checklist

It is defi ned how progress towards SUTP goals will be monitored

Th ere are set dates for the evaluation of the progress of the SUTP work

Th ere is a clearly defi ned unit/person responsible for evaluating the progress of SUTP work against the defi ned goals and targets

Th e unit/person has the necessary competence, tools and resources allocated for the evaluation of the progress towards SUTP targets

Th ere is a time plan for evaluation of SUTP progress

It is defi ned to whom the evaluators will report their results

Evaluation reporting

Evaluation should be reported to assist staff to learn and decision-makers to improve perform-ance. It should also reference the evidence of the fi ndings for future use. Evaluation that is publicly reported off ers local stakeholders op-portunities to contribute to the debate over the choice of programmes and how resources should be allocated.

Acknowledge the achievements

Th e achievements of the process should be com-municated to the public openly, the successes as well as the possible shortcomings and failures. Th e recognitions of good SUTP process should go to those who have done the work. Th e ac-knowledgement of the achievements has signifi -cant infl uence to the continuous interest and follow-up of the process.

53

Air quality monitoring part of integrated planning in Liepaja

Monitoring air quality is done in almost all the cities of Europe. However, to use it in an integrated way with transport and urban plan-ning is a step towards understanding the nega-tive impacts and the complex relation between health, transport and urbanisation.

For years, the city of Liepaja was lacking data about the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions in the city centre. One monitoring station was not enough for building the picture on how traffi c infl uences air quality.

During the SUTP process, the city decided to do a pilot action in air quality monitoring and assessment and feed the information into the new plans. Samples were collected from fi ve diff erent places in the hearth of the city centre. It also included modelling the meas-ures with the traffi c fl ows during the summer months. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) dispersion was also monitored.

“We wanted to take this particular topic into account in planning streets and areas with cleaner air with the measures we already used”, says Dace Liepniece, Head of Environmental Department.

“Air quality management is particularly cru-cial in cities like Liepaja with irregular loca-tion of industrial, green and residential areas for securing sustainable development.”

Th e pilot action included results, modelling and proposals for the city administration, pointing out where the hot spots are. In the implementation of SUTP, actions should be targeted to these particular areas.

“It is very important to prepare this kind of process well in advance – and then take it to the general public and politicians for further decision-making ”, Liepniece concludes.

Presenting the result to the media increases the understanding of the direct health impact of traffi c and makes it easier to implement un-popular traffi c measures.


54

4. STRIVING FOR BETTER URBAN LIVING AND MOBILITY

4.1 Introduction


54

Str

ivin

g for

bet

ter

urb

an liv

ing a

nd m

obili

ty

Th e challenge of cities today is how to reduce the need for transport, while at the same time maintain and, where possible, increase the lo-cal economic prosperity and quality of life. Th e increases in the oil prices, together with shortage of supply reinforces the SUTP principle of the need to reduce transport.

Planning new developments in a way that forces people to travel long distances and that increases the use of motorised transport counteracts sus-tainable transport.

Reducing travel distances and travel demand is therefore an important cornerstone for sustain-able urban transport. Th is does not imply that the city’s inhabitants should not travel, but that they should not be forced to travel far to fulfi l basic needs. Distances should ideally be kept so short that walking or cycling is the attractive/likely mode of transport.

Short distances also improve the possibilities for an enhanced modal shift. Th is is important to achieve a fair transport system that gives all groups in society equal or high accessibility to important services, independent of car owner-ship.

When people and goods require travel vehi-cles are often used. A clean and silent transport system that supports a wider use of energy ef-fi cient vehicles and alternative fuels reduces the disturbing impacts of noise, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Freight transport issues are often not taken into account in urban transport planning, although they signifi cantly contribute to the impacts of

unsustainable transport. Effi cient urban logistics represents an additional cornerstone towards sustainable transport.

In order to achieve the targets set out in the SUTP and to move the cities’ transport system towards a sustainable one, all actions and meas-ures need to refl ect these principles.

55


4.2 Close and easy – Reduced need for transport

Why

Low density development, sub-urbanisa-tion, out-of-town shopping centres, glo-balisation and increasing affl uence are all contributing to the increased demand for more transport. Th ese social and economic pressures are given eff ect in the patterns of spatial development in urban areas and in the quality and nature of the urban trans-port systems.

Measuring, understanding and managing these ‘drivers’ is an important aspect of achieving sustainable transport. Plans, po-lices and programmes that manage transport demand require a long-term perspective.

Reducing the need for transport; requires plans, policies and programmes that are es-sentially preventative.

How

A reduction in the need for transport is achieved through the application of sustainable spatial planning polices that support and encourage mixed-use developments. Th ese developments meet the housing, shopping, commercial and employment needs of residents within walking and cycling distance or are accessible by public transport.

SUTP requires spatial planning to be based on the principle of the need to reduce transport – and demands that spatial planning is integrated with transport and mobility planning.

Traffi c Impact Assessments (TIA) help to indi-cate the likely traffi c impacts of proposed devel-opments (shopping centres/housing) and new plans (employment centres/ tourism initiatives etc). TIAs are carried out to inform the changes to the proposal that are necessary to provide sus-tainable urban transport – TIAs must be carried out early in the process of designing the plan or development. Th e TIA must lead to changes to the development – changes to location, ori-entation or density or changes to the mobility infrastructure or public transport facilities. TIAs help us to understand how to deliver local serv-ices more effi ciently and sustainably and how to reduce the need for transport: essential local services such as hospitals, medical centres, li-braries, schools all need to be sited in places that are accessible by walking, cycling or by public transport. In this way, TIAs help local decision-makers to reduce the need for transport.

Compact mixed-use urban areas support sus-tainable urban transport and reduce the need for transport. Where this takes place as part of the redevelopment of ‘brownfi elds’, it can further re-duce the need for transport. On the other hand,

greenfi eld development promotes an increase in the demand for transport. Greenfi eld develop-ment sites must be mixed-use and integrated with existing public transport infrastructure. A culture of cycling and walking must be central to their development if transport demand is to be reduced.

56


Str

ivin

g for

bet

ter

urb

an liv

ing a

nd m

obili

ty

Checklist

Th e city’s spatial plan and policies support the principle of reducing the need for personal transport and the transport of goods

Th e location of shops, schools and other local services help to reduce the demand for transport

A selection of soft measures are used by the city authorities to reduce the need for transport, both for passengers and goods

SUTP includes objectives and targets to reduce the need for personal transport

SUTP includes objectives and targets to reduce the need for goods transport

57


”Th e school pupils have been fantastic!” James McGeever, International Project Coordinator in Kaunas says without hesitation.

In December 2006, Kaunas municipality in Lithuania started working with two schools in outer suburbs of the city to help improve the students’ journey to school. Th e schools were chosen after taking part in SUTP peer review exercise. Th e initiative came jointly from the initial peer review recommendation.

Th e aim was to improve the journey and jour-ney environment for school children in two suburban schools through the provision of a set of practical and achievable recommenda-tions. Th e materials were based on “Safe route to school”, provided by Sustrans, a British or-ganisation.

Th e pupils prepared their own versions of qualitative and quantitative questionnaires, distributed them amongst their fellow pu-pils and prepared the results into a series of charts and tables and summary information. Th ey also took photographic evidence of the problems in their surrounding environment and added that to their school travel plan fi nal report.

School children in the forefront in Kaunas

“School children raised the challenge almost without any real management from the project team. I think they were genuinely interested and have shown an interest in continuing to be involved”, McGeever says.

“School travel plans are important in Kaunas because we have not yet proved eff ectively that we can engage with communities in a way that provides long term, equal, two way relationships.”

It was also important to ensure that the re-sults of the school travel plan were eff ectively promoted to as wide an audience as possible. “Th is pilot project will help towards actions and profi le raising of the whole SUTP by em-powering school pupils to understand issues that aff ect them, as well as knowing how to present these issues in a way that produces the desired results and improvements”, he con-cludes.

58


Str

ivin

g for

bet

ter

urb

an liv

ing a

nd m

obili

ty

4.3 Effi cient travelling – Strengthening sustainable transport modes

Why

Walking and cycling are the most sustain-able modes of personal transport, providing positive health benefi ts whilst reducing con-gestion and averting the need for vehicles at the same time. In the hierarchy of sus-tainable transport modes, public transport follows close behind. Increasing the propor-tion of personal trips made by walking, cy-cling and public transport helps to improve the quality of the urban environment by reducing noise, emissions, pollution and congestion, whilst improving public health. Reducing the need for personal motorised travel is central to sustainable urban trans-port.

How

Increasing the modal share for walking, cycling and public transport requires an integrated pro-gramme of plans, polices and programmes across the urban area that

increase the attractiveness of walking, cycling and public transport

discourage personal use of cars, andprovide information and incentives to

encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport.

•

••

Th e choice of transport mode is infl uenced by a variety of factors e.g., convenience, travel time, (perceived) cost, fl exibility, comfort, safety, social acceptance etc. Th e fi rst two categories of meas-ures aim at making alternative travel solutions more attractive relative to the car. Measures in the fi eld of information and marketing are im-portant to raise knowledge and the acceptance of alternatives to the use of cars – people need to know about their transport alternatives and, fur-thermore, they must be perceived as attractive.

59


Increasing the attractiveness of ‘alternative’ transport modes

Increasing the modal share for walking, cycling and public transport can be achieved through a wide variety of plans, policies and programmes.

Walking

Increasing the modal share for walking requires a dense network of well-maintained routes that are both safe to use and perceived by the public as safe to use. Th e network should be attractive and accessible for all communities of interest – including visitors, tourists, the elderly and those with physical mobility problems. Spatial plan-ning should reserve the space that is necessary for the ‘walking infrastructure’ and ensure that local services are sited within walking distance from residential areas. Infrastructure design should ensure that routes are safe, attractive, well-lit, signposted, maintained year around and accessible to all as well as integrated with green space, roads and the buildings of urban areas.

Many urban areas have produced design manu-als that provide the detailed specifi cations for the practical tools and techniques that deliver high-quality, walking friendly urban environ-ments. Examples of such environments are “pe-destrian only zones” and “home or low speed zones” with lower vehicle speed limits that allow pedestrians and cars safely share the same space. On these areas pedestrians always have priority to the cars.

Cycling

Increasing the modal share for cycling requires a dense network of well-maintained routes that are both safe to use and perceived by the public as such. Spatial and transport planning should treat cycling as an equal mode of trans-port with cars and public transport: reserving the space that is necessary for the ‘cycling in-frastructure’ direct connections and continuity with attractive and secure cycle parking facili-ties at transport hubs (train and bus station) and workplaces. Infrastructure design should ensure that there is a hierarchy of routes that are safe, attractive, well-lit, signposted, maintained year around and integrated with green space, roads and the buildings of urban areas.

Many cities have produced design manuals that provide the detailed specifi cations for the practi-cal tools and techniques that deliver high-quality cycle-friendly urban environments: reducing the speed limits of motorised vehicles on important shared cycle routes and opening up ‘one-way’ streets for two- way use by cyclists. Making bikes more available through subsidised hire and free schemes is particularly successful in increasing the modal share for cycling – particularly where this is associated with an attractive infrastructure and good marketing. (e.g., Paris/Göteborg).

60


Str

ivin

g for

bet

ter

urb

an liv

ing a

nd m

obili

ty

Public transport

Increasing the modal share for public transport requires a dense network of routes that meets the mobility needs of people. Ticketing, marketing and service information availability should be integrated across public transport modes within ‘travel to work’ urban areas. Services need to be reliable, frequent, cost- and time-competitive, safe to use and perceived by the public as such. Information about services needs to be ‘real-time’, widely available and include predicted arrival times. Th e network should be attractive and accessible for all communities of interest – including visitors, tourists, the elderly and those with physical mobility problems. Spatial planning should reserve the space necessary for the ‘transport infrastructure’ (dedicated routes, stopping places, information displays) and en-sure that stops are sited within walking distance from key residential, commercial and tourist centres. Spatial planning should deliver the re-quired loading factors to allow public transport to compete with car transport. “Public transport only” and priority routes will be essential poli-cies.

Make travel by car less attractive

Walking, cycling and public transport can be-come more attractive alternatives if car travel be-comes more diffi cult or expensive. Disincentives include:

Pricing

By making car drivers pay a fee for driving in the city (centre), drivers can be charged some of the societal cost of urban driving, thus also making the car a less attractive option. Experience from cities that implemented congestion charging can reduce car traffi c considerably and boost the use of other transport modes. Pricing can be an ef-fective instrument to reduce congestion and in-crease accessibility for important transports.

Parking management

Parking management is a powerful tool for cit-ies to manage car use and, especially, commut-ing by car. Cities have several tools to manage parking, e.g., pricing, time restrictions and con-trolling the number of available parking spaces. Parking time restrictions for non-residents, e.g., to two hours, are a proven tool to reduce com-muting by car without aff ecting accessibility to urban shops.

61


Checklist

Th e objectives, targets and measures in the SUTP strengthen sustainable transport modes

SUTP includes objectives, targets and measures that make unsustainable transport modes less attractive

Th e number of parking spaces is often regulated by the local building act, demanding a certain number of parking spaces for new develop-ments. By reducing the minimum demand and introducing a maximum level of parking spaces per living unit or shop area, the city can control the number of parking spaces available. Some cities have building regulations where location and accessibility by public transport infl uence the number of parking spaces allowed. Adequate pricing of urban parking lots is another impor-tant tool with similar potential to infl uence ur-ban driving as congestion charging.

Information & marketing

Buying and using cars is a global business re-inforced by massive commercial advertising and promotion budgets that refer not only to mobility issues but provide emotional life style and image appeal. Similar local marketing cam-paigns that provide personally tailored informa-tion about public transport, walking and cycling alternatives have been successful in reducing car use and increasing levels of public transport use. Th ese campaigns should also use the emo-tional and intellectual appeal of the health and environmental benefi ts that walking cycling and public transport provide.

62


Str

ivin

g for

bet

ter

urb

an liv

ing a

nd m

obili

ty

4.4 Healthy and pleasant – Clean and silent transport system

Why

Fossil-fuelled motorised transport produces noise and air pollutants and contributes to global warming by generating greenhouse gases. Th e damage to eco-systems, human health and the fabric of urban areas is con-siderable. Urban transport accounts for 40% of total CO2 emissions and up to 70% of other pollutants from transport.

How

A reduction of the noise, air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved by a wide variety of programmes including road sur-face design, noise attenuation barriers, landscap-ing, air quality mapping and air quality zones, and the use of more energy-effi cient vehicles and alternative fuels.

Road design - noise

Th e choice of surfacing materials and orienta-tion of roads, together with adjacent landscap-ing, planned speed, and vehicle characteristics, will dictate the noise generated by road users. Exposure to excessive road noise can also be controlled by restricting access to noise-sensi-tive routes to low noise vehicles or at non-sensi-

tive times, and by zoning land uses, segregating vehicles and residential areas and by insulating buildings.

Emissions

Air quality mapping should be used to en-sure that air quality meets the legal standards.

Restrictions in the use of fossil-fuelled vehicles should be imposed to deliver these standards. Support, encouragement and incentives should be given to the use of vehicles that produce zero or lower emissions as part of the programme of reducing emissions and pollution levels within legal standards.

63


Municipalities have a role in:

Investing in their own zero/low emission municipality fl eets (commercial/car sharing/ administrative)

Investing in zero/low emission car-sharing fl eets

Establishing partnerships to provide the infrastructure for alternative fuels

Requiring contractors/partners to operate zero/low emission fl eets

Supporting low zero/low emission public transport fl eets

Providing incentives for zero/low emission and alternative-fuelled vehicles (tax discounts parking discounts, priority access, etc)

Providing disincentives for use of old/ polluting vehicles (restricted access/ premium parking rates/etc.)

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Checklist

Exposure to excessive noise from vehicles is minimised in the city

Detailed restrictions are in place for motorised vehicles to deliver the required air quality within legal standards

Objectives, targets and measures are included in the SUTP to strengthen clean and silent transport system

64


Str

ivin

g for

bet

ter

urb

an liv

ing a

nd m

obili

ty

How

Th e transport of goods and products represents an essential aspect of sustainable urban trans-port. However, both a knowledge and partner-ship defi cit (or gap) exists in most urban areas: few administrations have the technical capacity, data or eff ective processes of working in part-nership that allow businesses and companies to share their needs and aspirations for urban logis-tics. Progressive-thinking urban areas have and

4.5 Rethinking goods transport – Effi cient urban logistics

Why

Th e effi cient transport of goods and prod-ucts between and within urban areas is an aspect of modern society that is little un-derstood and is rarely actively managed in urban areas. Globalisation means that many businesses are highly mobile and are moving their factories and distribution centres to locations where the logistics infrastructure and costs meet their needs. Th e economic vitality of urban areas depends on the exist-ence of logistics infrastructure that is cost-eff ectiveness in meeting these needs, whilst conserving the environment.

Outsourcing, globalisation, internet shop-ping and rapidly evolving communication, technology are infl uencing the economic health and transport needs of urban areas. Competition between urban areas for eco-nomic investment often involves sacrifi cial investment by city administrations in new urban logistics infrastructure and high ca-pacity without a full understanding of its contribution to congestion, economic pros-perity, and both noise and air pollution. Congestion places a signifi cant cost on local business and the environment.

use these partnerships to ‘forward plan’ logistics capacity. Th is allows them to quantify and share the costs and benefi ts associated with new in-vestments in urban logistics. In this manner, a balance can be achieved between meeting the needs of businesses and conserving the environ-ment.

65


Th e necessary plans, policies and programmes to achieve this balance will involve:

Capacity and infrastructure; e.g.Freight transfer and consolidation terminals,

etc.Modal shift (from vehicles to rail, etc.)New routes and facilities

Land use managementMixed use/single use zoning Storage, parking and loading zoningBuilding regulations

Regulations and enforcementRoute regulations (route, weight, volume,

road pricing, etc.)Time regulations (night deliveries, etc.)Disincentives/fi nes/taxes for non-sustainable

logistics operations

PromotionInformation (real-time traffi c information,

route/storage capacity, load zone reservation, etc.)

Cooperation (between neighbouring municipalities and freight carriers, joint deliveries, shared marketing, driver training, etc.)

Incentives/discounts for non-sustainable logistics operations

•

••

•••

•

••

•

•

•

Checklist

Freight transport industry and freight transport customers are involved in the SUTP

All planned new logistics developments in the city are based on the results of TIAs

Detailed incentives are used to encourage more effi cient urban logistics

Disincentives are used to improve the effi ciency of urban logistics

Objectives and targets to improve the effi ciency of urban logistics are defi ned in the SUTP

66


Str

ivin

g for

bet

ter

urb

an liv

ing a

nd m

obili

ty

Effi ciency and cleaner air through freight pilot

In Bremen, the city staff works together with a delivery company on how to give operational incentives for clean vehicles. Th is cooperation resulted in an idea to implement an environ-mentally friendly loading point adjacent to the pedestrian area.

Loading activities at pedestrian areas are al-lowed until 11 a.m. Th e fl eet of delivery vehi-cles is relatively old and polluting. “Th ere has been an increasing demand for delivering and picking up parcels and goods at other times as well”, says Michael Glotz-Richter, Project Manager for Sustainable Mobility in the city of Bremen.

As a result, the city started to organise the planning and coordination with the various organisations. “At the time we started, the German Traffi c Regulation wasn’t familiar with environmental loading zones. We needed to create a special solution for this pilot ac-tion.”

Th e environmental loading point is now locat-ed near the Bremen pedestrian area. It allows Courier, Express and Parcel services to have access to the city centre during the daytime for delivery and pickup services. However, the access is exclusive if the service is operated with cleaner Euro V/EEV vehicles. A high emission standard is the requirement to get to this loading point. Th is puts pressure on the companies to improve their vehicle fl eet. Cleaner vehicles also represent an advantage in the competition between delivery compa-nies.

Th e Chamber of Commerce has been sup-portive and actively involved in this public/private partnership cooperation. “We expect this to accelerate the renewal of the delivery vehicle fl eet. It may also optimise the route management for delivery services to the city centre”, says Glotz-Richter.

67


68


Appendix 1 – EU SUTP qualities

EU Expert Working Group’s common understanding and defi nition of SUTP

A start from collective visions

An SUTP has to be based on the real needs of society and aim to cre-ate sustainable, attractive and vibrant communities. It looks beyond the transport sector and imagines how transport and mobility should support urban life in the future. SUTP must therefore continuously involve citi-zens and stakeholders from the start as well as throughout the planning and implementation process.

A balance of sustainability dimensions

Social, economic, and environmental objectives should be balanced in an SUTP. It must not be seen as a threat or obstacle to the achievement of economic development or social equity, but rather a complementary tool for delivering these objectives.

A fully integrated planning approach

SUTP is essentially about integration. Without full integration with other plans, it is incomplete, if not fundamentally undermined.

- Horizontal integration – between transport/mobility plans and the other municipality plans and programmes; e.g., spatial planning

- Vertical integration – between municipality plans and regional, national and EU plans;

- Spatial integration – between related policies of neighbouring administrations/municipalities

An innovation of existing practices

SUTP is not meant to be an additional layer of transport planning activi-ties. It is a new way of tacking transport-related problems more effi ciently and with improved governance and legitimacy. However, it must evolve over time from within present practice and regulatory frameworks and cannot be imposed.

A review of transport costs and benefi ts

SUTP assesses transport costs and benefi ts across the economic, social, and environmental sectors. By “internalising” the external costs of trans-port, the SUTP aims to provide a market mechanism that will regulate the transport sector.

A feasible and fl exible approach

SUTP is a pragmatic approach that delivers ‘concrete’ results, managing risks, including a sequence of milestones, monitoring the implementation and achievement or objectives. An SUTP package of measures must be realistic and fully achievable within accepted levels of variations. Whilst considering the long terms vision, the SUTP includes short-term targets and achieves successful steps in the right direction.

Th e EU Expert Working Group on Sustainable Urban Transport (Th e Final Report of EU Expert Working Group on Sustainable Urban Transport Plans (2004), http://ec.europa.eu/environment/urban/pdf/fi nal_report050128.pdf ) established a common understanding of European SUTP and how it should relate to current practises. Th e EU defi nition of SUTP and its basic qualities are:

69


A focus on target achievements

Setting the concrete and realistic targets and achieving them step-by-step is the implementation approach of SUTP. Th is will require the diff erent use of monetary resources, as the budget allocation must become conditional on target achievement. SUTP is not a master plan.

A level playing fi eld for cities

Th e SUTP should establish the minimum basis and scope for the imple-mentation of environmental legislation. Th is will remove the competitive advantages of some urban areas by requiring compliance rather that the present sacrifi ces of environmental quality and environmental capital in providing unsustainable transport.

70


Appendix 2 - Policy documents

Appendix 3 - Good practice databases

http://www.eltis.org/, European Local Transport Information Service

http://www.epomm.org, European Platform of Mobility Management

http://www.civitas-initiative.org/, cleaner and better transport in cities

http://www.smile-europe.org, 170 successful and replicable practices for sustainable transport

http://www.localcapacity21.org/ Governing sustainable cities

http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/index.php Transport Demand Management Encyclopedia, Victoria Transport Institute

Voluntary agreementsAalborg Commitments, http://www.aalborgplus10.dk/

EU Policy documentsTh e Green Paper on urban mobility (2007), http://ec.europa.eu/transport/clean/green_paper_urban_transport/preparation_en.htm

Th ematic Strategy on the Urban Environment (2005), http://ec.europa.eu/environment/urban/thematic_strategy.htm

Renewed Sustainable Development Strategy (2006), http://ec.europa.eu/sustainable/welcome/index_en.htm

6th Environmental Action Programme (2002-2012), http://ec.europa.eu/environment/newprg/index.htm

Leipzig charter on sustainable European cities (2007), http://www.eu2007.de/en/News/download_docs/Mai/0524-AN/075DokumentLeipzigCharta.pdf

Renewed Lisbon Strategy – Working together for growth and jobs (2005), http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/pdf/COM2005_024_en.pdf

White Paper: European transport policy for 2010: time to decide (2001, reviewed 2006), http://ec.europa.eu/transport/white_paper/index_en.htm

Aarhus convention - Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, (UN convention, EC Regulation, N° 1367/2006), http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/

Unit Equal Opportunities for Women and Men: Strategy and Programme, http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/gender_equality/index_en.html

71


Appendix 4 – Glossary

Accessibility Accessibility refers to the ease with which people can access or participate in employment, shopping, education, health, entertainment, social and other activities available in an area. Th e word ‘accessible’ is often more narrowly used to describe improvements to transport for people with physical and other disabilities. http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/transportplan/8_Glossary/

Benchmarking Benchmarking (also “best practice benchmarking” or “process benchmarking”) is a process used in management – particularly strategic management – in which organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best practice, usually within their own sector. Th is then allows organizations to develop plans on how to adopt such ‘best practice’, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance. Benchmarking may be a single event, but is often treated as a continuous process in which organizations continually seek to challenge their practices. http://en.wikipedia.org

Best Practice A technique or methodology that, through experience and research, has proven to reliably lead to a desired result. In government, there is special interest in best practice exchange as – unlike commercial enterprises – there is no competitive incentive to keep best practices secret. http://en.wikipedia.org

Brownfi eld land A tract of land that has been developed for industrial purposes, polluted, and then abandoned http://europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/Controller

In town planning, brownfi eld land is an area of land previously used or built upon, as opposed to greenfi eld land which has never been built upon. In some cases, it may be land previously used by industry or commercial uses such as fuelling stations or mining, and therefore may be contaminated by hazardous waste or pollution. Generally, brownfi eld sites exist in a town’s industrial section, in abandoned factories or other previously high-polluting buildings. Small brownfi elds may also be found in many older residential neighbourhoods.

Th e redevelopment of these brownfi eld sites is an important part of the new urbanism. http://en.wikipedia.org

Bus lanes Bus lanes are traffi c lanes on a roadway that are for the use of buses. Bus lanes can be exclusively for buses and or shared with taxis and high occupancy vehicles. http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/transportplan/8_Glossary/

Car-sharing Car-sharing is a system in which a fl eet of cars (or other vehicles) is owned by a company or cooperative and available for use by members of the car share. Typically, the participants in such a program are city dwellers whose transportation needs are largely met by public transit, walking or cycling. Some households use a car share as an alternative to the has sles of owning (and parking) a second car. http://en.wikipedia.org

EU-funding EU funding schemes targeted towards urban transport; schemes for Civitas, other FP7 calls, Intelligent Energy (renewable fuels/ urban transport energy effi cient transport), Marco Polo. More general funding instruments Interreg (diff erent strands, A, B and C and geographical coverage), LIFE+, Urbact. Structural and cohesion funds in general. http://cordis.europa.eu/, http:// www.civitas-initiative.eu/, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/ intelligent/index_en.html, http://ec.europa.eu/transport/ marcopolo/2/index_en.htm, http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/life/

External costs An external cost is a cost not included in the market price of the goods and services being produced, i.e., a cost not borne by those who create it. http://glossary.eea.eu.int/EEAGlossary/

Freight transport Transportation of goods by ship, aircraft or other vehicles. http://glossary.eea.eu.int/EEAGlossary/

72


Gender equality Concept meaning that all human beings are free to develop their personal abilities and make choices without the limitations set by strict gender roles; that the diff erent behaviour, aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favoured equally. http://europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/Controller

Gender equity Fairness of treatment by gender, which may be equal treatment or treatment which is diff erent but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefi ts, obligations and opportunities. http://europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/Controller

Indicator see sustainable development indicator

Intelligent Intelligent Transportation Systems include the application Transport Systems of advanced information processing (computers), (ITS) communications, technologies and management strategies in an integrated manner in order to improve the safety, capacity and effi ciency of the transportation system. http://www.trans.gov.ab.ca/

Intermodal A movement of goods using more than one means transport of transportation. Th e most common intermodal arrangement is for goods to be moved by truck at their origin, transferred to rail for the long haul between regions, and transferred again to truck near their destination. www.epa.gov/smartway/glossary.htm

Internalisation Th e incorporation of an externality into the market decision- of external costs making process through pricing or regulatory interventions. In the narrow sense, internalisation is achieved by charging polluters (for example) with the damage costs of the pollution generated by them, in accordance with ‘the polluter pays’ principle. http://glossary.eea.eu.int/EEAGlossary/

Least-cost Least-Cost Planning is an approach to resource planning planning that: Considers demand management solutions equally with strategies to increase capacity. Considers all signifi cant impacts (costs and benefi ts), including non-market impacts. Involves the public in developing and evaluating alternatives. http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm21.htm

Logistics Logistics is the art and science of managing and controlling the fl ow of goods, energy, information and other resources from the source of production to the marketplace. Th e convergence of economic, political and technological forces in the mid-1990s dramatically increased the importance of logistics. Th e delivery of goods overtook production as the most critical factor in business success. Almost overnight, the responsibility of logistics grew from simply getting a product out the door to the science of controlling the optimal fl ow of goods, energy, and information through the purchasing, planning and transportation management. In the wake of this change, the role of logistics went from local to global, tactical to strategic, and from the backroom to the boardroom. http://www.logisticsinstitute.com/about_us/what_is_logis tics.php

Mobility Th e ability of groups or individuals to relocate/change jobs or to physically move from one place to another. http://glossary.eea.eu.int/EEAGlossary/

73


Mobility Mobility Management is primarily a demand-oriented management approach to passenger and freight transport that involves new partnerships and new tools. Th e aim is to support and encourage a change of attitude and behaviour towards sustainable modes of transport. Th e tools of mobility management are based on information, communication, organization and co-ordination. Th ese tools require promotion. Mobility Management, which is both a novel and promising concept to promote sustainable transport, varies from country-to-country both in terms of scope and level of implementation. www.epomm.org (European platform on Mobility Manage- ment)

Modal split Th e proportion of total person-trips assigned to each available transport mode http://europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/Controller

Parking Strategies aimed at making better use of the available management parking supply. Parking management strategies include preferential parking or price discounts for carpools and/or short-term parkers, and disincentives for those contributing more to congestion. http://managed-lanes.tamu.edu/products/glossary.stm

Participatory Participatory planning - is involving the entire community in planning the strategic and management processes of urban planning. http://en.wikipedia.org/

Passenger transport Th e conveyance of people over land, water or through air by automobile, bus, train, airplane or some other means of travel. http://glossary.eea.eu.int/EEAGlossary/

Public-Private Public Private Partnership - cooperative venture between the Partnership public and private sectors, built on the expertise of each partner that best meets clearly defi ned public needs through the appropriate allocation of resources, risks and rewards. Canadian council for public-private partnership http://www. pppcouncil.ca/

Public transport Th e act or the means of conveying people in mass as opposed to conveyance in private vehicles. http://glossary.eea.eu.int/EEAGlossary/

Public transport comprises all transport systems in which the passengers do not travel in their own vehicles. It is also called ‘public transit’ or ‘mass transit’. While it is generally taken to mean rail and bus services, wider defi nitions would include scheduled airline services, ferries, taxicab services, etc., i.e., any system that transports members of the general public. http://en.wikipedia.org

Public Transport Altering the sequence or timing of traffi c signal phases using Priority Schemes special detection in order to provide preferential treatment. http://managed-lanes.tamu.edu/products/glossary.stm

Renewable energy Energy sources that do not rely on fuels of which there are only fi nite stocks. Th e most widely-used renewable source is hydroelectric power. Other renewable sources are biomass energy, solar energy, tidal energy, wave energy and wind energy. http://glossary.eea.eu.int/EEAGlossary/

Social inclusion Positive action taken to include all sectors of society in planning and other decision-making. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/government/ en/1115310689529.html

Spatial planning Spatial planning refers to the methods used by the public sector to infl uence the distribution of people and activities in spaces of various scales. Th is includes urban (urban planning), regional (regional planning), national and international levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

74


Stakeholder In the last decades of the 20th century, the word “stakeholder” has evolved to mean a person or organisation that has a legitimate interest in a project or entity. In discussing the decision-making process for institutions -- including large business corporations, government agencies and non- profi t organizations – the concept has been broadened to include everyone with an interest (or “stake”) in what the entity does. Th at includes not only its vendors, employees, and customers, but even members of a community where its offi ces or factory may aff ect the local economy or environment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Sustainable Sustainable development indicators are indicators that Development measure progress made in sustainable growth and Indicators development. Th ey can provide an early warning, sounding the alarm in time to prevent economic, social and environmental damage. Th ey are also important tools to communicate ideas of sustainable development. Indicators for monitoring progress towards sustainable development are needed in order to assist decision-makers and policy-makers at all levels and to in crease focus on sustainable development. Beyond the commonly used economic indicators of well-being, however, social, environmental and institutional indicators have to be taken into account as well to arrive at a broader, more complete picture of societal development. http://glossary.eea.eu.int/EEAGlossary/

Transport Transportation Demand Management (TDM) (also known Demand as Mobility Management) is a general term for various Management strategies that increase transportation system effi ciency. TDM treats mobility as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. It emphasizes the movement of people and goods, rather than motor vehicles, and so gives priority to more effi cient modes (such as walking, cycling, ridesharing, public transit and telework), particularly under congested conditions. It prioritizes travel based on the value and costs of each trip, giving higher value trips and lower cost modes priority over lower value, higher cost travel, when doing so increases overall system effi ciency. http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm51.htm

Urban Sprawl Pejorative term for low-density development in suburban and the fringe of urban areas. Characteristics include distance from employment and commercial centres, dependence on automobile travel, extended public infrastructure and little in-fi ll development. Answers.com. Dictionary of Real Estate Terms, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc, 2004. http://www.answers.com/topic/urban-sprawl

75


“Th e process of developing the SUTP has been more important for the future than the document itself.”

Photos: Anna Granberg (pages 9, 11, 12, 15, 21, 27, 28, 32, 33, 36, 40, 43, 47, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 60, 63, 64, 67), Sakari Saarinen (pages 13, 22), Marek Muiste (page 20), Mikko Laaksonen (page 23), city of Gdynia (pages 25, 31, 45, 46, 51, 52), city of Örebro (pages 26), city of Kaunas (page 30, 42), city of Sundsvall/Åsa Grip (page 49), city of Turku/Stillkuvastudio/Mika Okko (page 34), city of Göteborg (pages 35, 36, 62, 66), Sari Sariola (pages 1 & 76 collages, 38), city of Tartu (pages 41, 50), city of Liepaja (page 53), city of Bremen (pages 30, 57), Pasi Pirinen/Tarsiger.com (page 61), Ants Liigus (page 29), Rex Features/Lehtikuva (page 10), Lehtikuva/Heikki Saukkomaa (page 76).

Moving Sustainably - Guide to Sustainable Urban Transport PlansISBN 978-952-5725-17-9www.movingsustainably.net