TRANSPOWER – Concepts for Sustainable Urban Transport

Project description

Title: TRANSPOWER RP6 – Concepts for Sustainable Urban Transport
Commissioned by: German Ministry for Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, Brandenburg (MIR)
Financier: European Commission
Country: Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Austria, Italy, Romania, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Overall term: 2006 to 2009

Context

Creating safer, cleaner, more efficient and more effective transport in towns and cities is crucial for sustainable economic and social development. But mobility does not have only positive effects such as improved regional integration and increased productivity. It also presents major challenges to business, the environment and to social welfare. Traffic jams hinder economic growth, noise and emissions pollute urban areas and greenhouse gases resulting from transport contribute to global warming.

The TRANSPOWER project was launched to tackle problems in urban traffic and develop practical and tailor-made solutions. GIZ brought together 16 partners from Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Austria, Italy, Romania, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The project was financed as part of the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development of the EU and commissioned by the Ministry for Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, Brandenburg.

Objective

Preliminary steps for a paradigm shift in urban transport are introduced. There are long-term guarantees of eco-friendly, resource-efficient, safe and clean road transport in the towns and cities participating in the project.

Approach

TRANSPOWER focused primarily on implementing urban transport projects in nine small and medium-sized cities. GIZ helped key actors in the fields of transport, urban planning and the environment, including municipal and regional authorities, to implement sustainable mobility concepts. The key goals were traffic reduction, a switch to alternative forms of transport and environmentally-conscious transport design. To achieve this decision-makers require properly evaluated scientific data on best practices, optimum processes and relevant experience.

A key instrument for optimising the transport sector is integrated traffic planning which takes note of the needs of the population and similarly pays attention not only to public and private means of transport, cyclists and pedestrians but also to environmental and health concerns. TRANSPOWER promoted the exchange of experience and staff among policymakers in municipalities and cities as well as with science and business, and supported capacity building in participating institutions.

Results achieved so far

The TRANSPOWER project was successfully concluded in 2009 after an overall term of three years. A lasting network has been established, in which lessons learned continue to be communicated and developed and there is an ongoing exchange of information. Many individual measures have demonstrated how approaches to transport management can function successfully.

In the historic centre of the Romanian city of Sibiu, for example, TRANSPOWER helped put in place a parking system which has reduced traffic significantly. For this system Sibiu received an award at the 2008 CIVITAS Forum in Bologna. In addition, the city opened its first cycle lane in 2009, a model upon which further such measures are planned.