On-line Tool for the Assessment of Sustainable Urban Transport Policies

Abstract European cities face increasing challenges to their citizens’ mobility. Urban transport systems are integral elements of the European transport system and are therefore of concern for the Common Transport Policy. Thus, the 2011 Transport White Paper calls for cities to implement a range of strategies to face these challenges - strategies include: land-use planning, pricing schemes, efficient public transport services, infrastructure for non-motorised modes and charging/refuelling of clean vehicles to reduce emissions – and encourage to develop Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) that bring all of these elements together. Tools and guidance documents are key instruments for the development of these strategies in order to help city authorities understanding the range of possible actions and steps to successful implementation. This paper presents an overview of the web based policy support tool developed in the European Urban Roadmaps study, supported by DG Move and underpinned by a range of stakeholders’ engagement activities. The aim of the web based tool is to support authorities of small and medium sized cities in Europe who may not have the resource to major policy assessment and modelling work. The tool provide the local transport policy maker with the ability to readily identify, develop, screen and assess different measures and policies scenarios, thereby enabling city authorities to quickly gather a sense of the scale of impacts that could be expected. It is adaptable to different city circumstances, covers all the transport/travel modes that are used in urban areas and provides quantitative outputs covering a range of different metrics, including costs and cost effectiveness, covering the time period until 2030. The development of the tool is complemented by the preparation of different road maps, designed to provide examples of policy selections that could be implemented by a city to work towards the European Commission goals for sustainable urban transport until the year 2030.