CARAVEL - Travelling Towards a New Mobility
Overview
Background & policy context:
CIVITAS CARAVEL was part of the CIVITAS-Initiative, founded by the European Union in 2002.The cities of Krakow and Genoa, their public transport operators, industrial partners, and research institutions defined a common project proposal entitled ACTIV21 - 'Agenda for Clean Transport In Vital cities of the 21st century'. Their political leaders agreed to establish a new culture for clean mobility in European cities in support of sustainable development, citizens well being and safe access for all.
CIVITAS CARAVEL fully complies with the objectives of the Thematic Priorities 1.6.1 'Sustainable Energy Systems' and 1.6.2 'Sustainable Surface Transport' of the Work Programme 'Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area' of the 6th Framework Programme (FP6). Therefore a total of 55 measures were be implemented, all related to the eight policy fields defined by the CIVITAS-Initiative:
- energy-efficient, cost effective, clean vehicle fleets;
- access control to inner cities;
- integrated pricing schemes;
- stimulation of collective passenger transport;
- new forms of vehicle use/ownership, less car-dependant lifestyles;
- new concepts for freight distribution;
- innovative 'soft' measures for managing mobility demand;
- transport management systems and traveller information.
Objectives:
Wiithin the CIVITAS CARAVEL project, the cities of Genoa (Italy), Burgos (Spain), Krakow (Poland) and Stuttgart (Germany) worked together towards sustainable urban mobility in cooperation with public transport operators, industrial partners and research institutions. CIVITAS CARAVEL aimed to improve quality of life in the participating cities by tackling urban mobility issues through public-private partnerships, stakeholder consultations, awareness-raising activities and research.
The four CARAVEL cities were already well-known in their respective countries as pioneers of innovative urban mobility policies. The experiences gained and lessons learned from measures implemented in the 1990s clearly indicated that single and isolated activities had only a marginal impact and were therefore no longer appropriate in the face of existing urban problems. It was clear that only radical changes in urban transport would lead to effective solutions.
In this context, the main focus of CIVITAS CARAVEL was to embed the individual measures into overarching urban policies covering strategic objectives such as quality of life, economic competitiveness and the transfer of experiences. As the four project cities faced similar problems, there was a pronounced emphasis on the sharing of experiences among these cities and beyond.
CIVITAS CARAVEL comprised a package of integrated measures to meet the following key objectives:
- establish effective public-private partnerships;
- involve stakeholders in the planning and implementation process;
- implement extensive awareness-raising and marketing activities; and
- monitor and evaluate project activities through continuous research.
Methodology:
CIVITAS CARAVEL measures included large-scale demonstration activities with a substantial impact, such as the extension and enforcement of access restriction zones; improvements to road and parking pricing; and the development of freight distribution schemes. A total of 54 integrated measures were implemented during the project, covering all eight CIVITAS policy fields. Examples are provided below:
- Genoa enhanced its car-sharing system by the addition of specially adapted cars for disabled drivers and by introducing the shared use of cars by private individuals and public institutions, with a more energy efficient fleet. The access control scheme was extended through a pricing scheme for goods distribution in the city centre, based on a mobility credit concept. All stakeholder needs were taken into account during the development phase. The measure led to changes in delivery behaviour, resulting in fewer vans and cars circulating in the historic city centre.
- Krakow implemented the first demand-responsive (bus) service in Poland. It was the result of a real transfer of ideas and IT solutions from Genoa to Krakow. Krakow introduced an integrated ticket covering public and private transport operators from the city and the region, and took steps towards opening a transfer centre where interested cities can find vital information for their own mobility projects. Krakow was the first city in Poland to implement a public bike scheme.
- Burgos devoted considerable efforts to stakeholder participation, including representatives from the general population, shopkeepers, hotel owners, technology providers, consultants, and relevant departments of the city council. This created a momentum in urban development projects, enabling Burgos to improve the quality of the historic city centre by introducing selective access restrictions for motorised transport in sensitive areas, and enhancing the accessibility of central areas by significantly improving the quality of public transport. Burgos has received several awards for its efforts.
- Stuttgart extended its existing car-pooling system: many companies in Stuttgart and the region - including some of the world’s leading enterprises in the automobile and IT sector - have integrated the system into their intranets and many towns in the region have set up links on their internet sites to the car-pooling system. Football stadiums and the local zoo were also integrated into the system. Stuttgart hosts Germany's first integrated traffic ma
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