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I. INTRODUCTION
This workshop on Green Urban Transport is held as part of the WP.5 cluster of work on `sustainable urban mobility, public transport, and cycling` and as recommended by WP.5 at its thirty-third session in 2020.
It will draw upon policy recommendations put forward in the UNECE Nexus publication entitled “People-Smart Sustainable Cities – Sustainable and Smart Cities for All Ages” (April 2021). Furthermore, the workshop will build further on the momentum generated by the adoption at the fifth Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) High-Level Meeting (Vienna, May 2021) of the first-ever Pan European Master Plan for Cycling Promotion. Inter alia, the workshop will discuss the applicability of the Master Plan in an urban context and identify opportunities to further strengthen the infrastructure component of the Master Plan through the development of internationally agreed standards and harmonized traffic signs. The workshop will be expected to provide further guidance to the work of the Working Party in this field.
Further to the important role of bicycling in an urban mobility context, the workshop will also shed light on several related aspects, including:
A. The importance of redesigning existing urban transport infrastructure and services including through:
o Maximizing the availability of safe and spacious sidewalks for pedestrians as well
o Maximizing public transport networks that are accessible, affordable, and easy to use.
o Accommodating new modes of urban mobility, including electric scooters and steps, car ridesharing, bike-sharing with well-planned parking spaces and charging stations.
B. The important role of developing a sound regulatory framework surrounding urban mobility and its impact on health and the environment as well as the need for effective enforcement, including through:
o Putting in place and enforcing a set of coherent road safety rules, including speed limitations.
o Actively deterring and enforcing limitations related to GHG and noise emissions (e.g. through banning older cars from urban centres).
C. The importance of adopting a holistic approach to urban mobility including paying due attention to both passenger as well as freight mobility challenges. Thereby recognizing that urban freight transport plays an essential role in cities economic development and prosperity but also acknowledging the negative effects in terms of health, safety, and livability that urban freight transport in its current form all too often creates.
II. OBJECTIVES
The workshop is expected to gather urban mobility experts from Ministries of Transport or related authorities, city authorities and urban planners, academia, research institutions and independent experts engaged in this field from across the UNECE region and beyond.
It will provide a platform for participants to:
o Exchange views, ideas, and experiences on how to improve urban mobility and turn it more sustainable.
o Discuss how to further promote active mobility and in particular bicycling and walking as backbones of healthy, environmentally friendly, accessible, and affordable urban mobility systems.
o Identify next steps and a specific role for WP.5 considering the recent adoption of the European Master Plan for Cycling Promotion and the proposals contained in ECE/TRANS/WP.5/2021/7.
III. DRAFT PROGRAMME
10:00-10:10 – Welcoming Remarks
Moderator: Mrs. Els de Wit, Chair, Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics (WP.5), Netherlands
• Mr. Konstantinos Alexopoulos, Chief, Transport Facilitation and Economics Section, UNECE Sustainable Transport Division
• Ms. Gulnara Roll, Secretary to the Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management, UNECE
10:10-10:20 – Setting the scene – Mobility as a cornerstone of People-Smart Sustainable Cities
• Keynote Address: Dr. Oleg Golubchikov, Associate Professor, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University
10:20-10:50 – Session I – Main principles of building green and sustainable urban transport systems
Moderator: Mr. Francesco Dionori, Chief, Transport Networks and Logistics Section, UNECE Sustainable Transport Division
Speakers:
• Mr. Robert Thaler, Head of Department, Active Mobility and Mobility Management, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Austria
• Dr. Jan Anne Annema, Expert Transport Policy Analysis, Delft University of Technology, Faculty Technology, Policy and Management, Netherlands
• Mr. Sergey Andreev, Vice Chair, Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics (WP.5), Russian Federation
Selected topics:
• THE PEP Vienna Declaration and its recommendations for green, healthy, and sustainable urban transport
• The Pan European Master Plan for Cycling Promotion and its applicability in an urban context
• Defining, green, sustainable, and efficient urban transport systems
10:50-11:35 – Session II – Urban mobility good practice examples at city level
Moderator: Mr. Roel Janssens, Secretary, Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics (WP.5)
Speakers:
• Mr. Pedro Homem de Gouveia, Senior Policy & Project Manager, POLIS – Cities and Regions for transport innovation
• Mr. Luca Olivieri, Project Lead, Mobility Strategy Basel-Stadt, Switzerland
• Prof. Dr. Irina Karapetyants, Director, Institute of International Transport Communications, Russian University of Transport (RUT)
• Mr. Alexander Morozov, Vice-President, International Association of Public Electric Transport Enterprises, Russian Federation
Selected topics:
• Examples of the impact of infrastructure design, public transport availability and new modes of urban mobility on the livability of cities
• Examples of sound regulatory frameworks surrounding urban mobility and their effective enforcement
• Examples on how to balance passenger and freight mobility challenges in an urban context
11:35-11:45 – Follow-up and next steps
• Mr. Lukasz Wyrowski and Mr. Roel Janssens, UNECE Sustainable Transport Division
• Tour-de-Table
11:45 – End of workshop