Demonstrating and testing innovative solutions for cleaner and better urban transport and mobility

Specific challenge: Many of Europe's urban areas are struggling to address the transport-related challenges they are facing. New technologies and innovative measures are emerging, but they are not taken up at a scale that is necessary to meet the targets of the Transport White Paper. Cities are hesitating to implement innovative solutions because little information is available on their effectiveness and on how to overcome the barriers to successful implementation. Special attention should be paid to issues related to vulnerable groups of citizens and gender issues.

Scope: The first part of the topic addresses Innovation Actions to be carried out by city-led consortia, composed of four to five cities, led by at least two advanced cities, which are committed to establish living laboratories where innovative solutions can be implemented. The participating cities should demonstrate their common interests and their vision on how they will ensure a meaningful and close cooperation. Proposals should outline how the work will support effectively the cities' efforts to follow a viable path towards sustainable mobility.

Each city should follow an integrated multimodal approach by demonstrating and testing under real life-conditions a set of complementary and reinforcing mobility solutions. The solutions should combine newly-emerging technologies, policy-based, and soft measures with a strong replication potential. They should cover an appropriate sub-set of the eight ‘CIVITAS measure categories’: collective passenger transport; demand management strategies; mobility management and travel awareness; safety and security; urban freight logistics; information systems and services; and clean fuels and low emission vehicles; car-independent lifestyles.

A thorough impact and process evaluation, on the basis of a common framework using a clear baseline in each city, will provide qualitative and quantitative information on the results of the local solutions implemented. The effectiveness of proposed measures in achieving local policy objectives should be evaluated and the barriers to broad deployment identified together with recommendations on how to overcome them. This should be accompanied by effective mechanisms for cross-fertilisation of knowledge and best-practises among the consortium members and beyond.

Proposals may include preparatory, take up and replication actions, research activities, as well as tools to support local planning and policy making. A demonstrated contribution to the development or revision of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans as well as furthering the Union’s strategy for international cooperation in research and innovation, especially with China[1], will be an advantage.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 12 to 18 million each for Innovation Actions would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Funding for major infrastructure works is not foreseen.

The second part of the topic addresses a Support Action to facilitate cooperation between stakeholders involved in the projects under this topic, and from across CIVITAS 2020. It should further elaborate the common ‘CIVITAS Process and Impact Evaluation Framework’, support its implementation and contribute to local capacity building in deploying innovative mobility solutions. The action should include a clear communication and dissemination strategy to maximise impact and ensure the continuity of the ‘CIVITAS Secretariat’ as well as links with the CiVi-Net networks.

This topic complements work under the ‘Smart Cities and Communities’ Call of the Energy Challenge.

Expected impact: The Innovation Actions will produce added-value inputs to the development of European knowledge base on the effectiveness and impacts of innovative mobility solutions and approaches to their successful implementation. Clear commitments and contribution from participants to Europe-wide take up during and beyond the project are expected.

The Support Action will help to promote take up of innovation by strengthening the mechanisms for urban transport policy making and planning as well as the technical capacity building in the participating cities. Dissemination, training and exchange activities will aim at a maximum reach of the target audience.

Type of action: 1) Innovation Actions; 2) Coordination and Support Actions

[1]     According to EU-China High Level Dialogue on Transport agreement of 24/09/2012 and 'Joint Declaration on EU-China Urbanisation Partnership' (subject to finalisation of the appropriate arrangements).