Overview
The concept of mobility management has been known and practiced in many European countries for several years. Traffic demand management has been a political issue also in Norway. However, there has been only limited implementation of restrictive - and therefore also controversial - measures. To some degree, decision-makers in several Norwegian cities had expected that the toll rings implemented would have had the desired impact on car use.
Mobility Management implies a 'soft' approach, which was not well known in Norway. The Ministry of Transport and Communications wanted a study which would describe the concept of Mobility Management, evaluate whether it should be introduced to Norwegian cities and also define how that best could be done.
The study was based on recent literature and interviews with people working with mobility management in several countries. A national seminar with representatives from the larger cities was arranged in Oslo in order to identify the interest and focus for further efforts based on this concept.
Funding
Results
The project recommended the establishment of a Norwegian network of cities working with the concept of Mobility Management in order to provide effective exchange of ideas and experiences. It was also recommended that several ministries should co-ordinate their work with transport, land use and environmental initiatives.
Policy implications
Based on the experiences and knowledge produced by the project, the project leader is continuing with work of presenting the concept of Mobility Management at meetings with authorities, business leaders and conferences. Also, cities are given advice on how to start work with mobility plans and advice. National ministries have become aware of the need to adjust laws and regulations in order to stimulate to more effective implementation in cities. Several cities have now employed mobility advisors to work with companies, organisations or individuals by providing information and advice.