Overview
Belgrade, as many cities today, faces a multitude of challenges related to congestion, noise, air quality issues, health, safety, quality of life and the problem with a multitude of diverting policies in the field of urban transport. On the global level, the challenge of climate change and its environmental, health and economic impacts is strongly connected to transport and unsustainable mobility behaviour.
These challenges are the driving forces behind recent calls for powerful measures to address Sustainable Transport. This Project is one of the pioneer attempts in Serbia to address these challenges and issues at wider scale.
The overall objective of the project is to reduce the metropolitan emissions in the City of Belgrade by improving the public transport scheme, reinforce the participation of cyclists in the traffic and providing the policy framework for sustainable urban transport development of Belgrade.
The Project provides support to the main partners in implementing the actions that will place the sustainable urban mobility at the heart of their business, but also of other institutions.
Following steps are planned during the project:
- Base for Sustainable Urban Plan of Belgrade developed
- A shift towards clean and energy-efficient transport modes, and
- increased safety of cyclists
- Reduced the traffic flow generated by parents taking their children to/from school by car
- Increased children’s travel awareness
- Eco-driving integrated into the driving schools curricula
- Eco-driving certification
- Reduction of 285 tons of CO2 per year
Funding
Results
The first activity will be developed around the planning process for the Sustainable Urban Transport Plan
Urban mobility issues are complex and cannot be successfully solved by simple transport plans. They require radical new policy instruments together with an integrated approach to mobility and the design of the cities.
Sustainable Urban Transport Plans (SUTP) are the foundation upon which a new approach to transport can be built by embracing radical new polices and facilitating the necessary integration of transport, urban and economic planning. Preparing the SUT planning phase is one of the four outputs and one of the most important ones. The planning process for a SUT plan is an equally important segment of the entire project cycle and provides a basis to build the rest of the activities upon.
As one of the four main outcomes of this Project is a completed planning process for launching the preparation of the SUTP. The SUTP itself shall be prepared by the Land Development Agency, once the planning is place and it is expected that the preparation of the SUTP will be performed during the life cycle of this project.
Promoting the cycling - the second activity of the project
Protection of the environment; the pursuit of energy security lie in the heart of the European transport policy by promoting also the co-modality. The transport policy that Serbia is to follow is calling upon increased use of green modes of transport and balanced participation of all modalities, without decrementing one on the account of the other. These misbalances are mostly expressed in the urban areas and Belgrade is a good example of that. The cycling and walking modes of transport are not taken into account by the strategic urban development documents and not addressed in practice adequately. Significant attention will be paid through this project in promoting the cycling transport mode by involving all sides into campaigns, public open events, competitions. The cyclists will receive the first digital cycling maps (GPS) to facilitate and stimulate the two-wheel commuting. It is expected that also the awareness of the public authorities will be raised and priorities start being put on the side of these green modes of transport, equally by safeguarding their rights and safety as well as investing into the needed infrastructure.
Building on the education and awareness of the youngest population on the green modes of mobility will be implemented through the third act