Malmö and Murcia receive European sustainable urban mobility awards

Malmö and Murcia receive European sustainable urban mobility awards

The European Commission today announced the winners of the 2015 European sustainable urban mobility awards at a ceremony held in Brussels. Murcia (Spain) was awarded the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2015, while Malmö (Sweden) won the fourth Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) Award . Making urban transport greener is essential to reach the EU's ambitious decarbonisation objectives as 75% of Europeans live in cities, and Murcia and Malmö were honoured for their excellence in sustainable urban mobility. EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc, and Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella, presented the winners with the awards.

Commissioner Bulc said: "I warmly congratulate all the finalist cities. They demonstrate that innovation creates better and smarter mobility. The objective of urban transportation should be to return cities back to their people and I commend the intermodal transport solutions developed by Malmö and Murcia. I hope they will now inspire many other cities as the fight against climate change will be won or lost in urban areas."

Commissioner Vella added "Urban transport still accounts for a significant share of air pollution in our cities. Today's winner cities prove that shifting to more sustainable transport is possible, without any loss of comfort. On the contrary, a greater number of transport options can save people time, keep us active and improve the quality of the air we breathe."

The winners received professional promotional videos highlighting their outstanding achievements in sustainable urban mobility.

Meet the winners:

Murcia (Spain) – winner of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2015

Murcia, a city in Southern Spain with nearly 440,000 inhabitants, successfully concentrated on the co-existence between car drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. In this way, the city accorded perfectly with the 2015 theme of multimodality. The main actions involved an innovative approach to intermodal e-mobility (e-bikes and e-scooters) and practical solutions such as efficient driving courses, bike racks on buses, allowing folded bikes on buses, opening bus lanes for cyclists, and extending the paid parking zone. These factors prove the commitment of the local authority to sustainable transport modes. A public transport loyalty scheme was put in place to reward best practice in commuter travel. The city is also working towards improving dangerous mobility spots and gives special attention to people with reduced mobility.

The other finalists were Lisbon (Portugal) and Palma de Mallorca (Spain).

The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2015 Finalists' video .

Malmö (Sweden) – winner of the 4th SUMP Award

The Swedish city of Malmö impressed the jury with an ambitious yet realistic vision of its mobility system. With a clear focus on improving sustainable transport modes, Malmö’s transport planning is linked to the overall urban planning process and takes into account commuter patterns as well as social factors, including accessibility for different social groups. Plans for a tram network, encouraging walking, and developing cycling programmes are this growing city’s answer to the increase of car transport and an excellent way to promote alternative and healthy travel. Additionally, the Malmö approach focuses not only on passenger transport but also on the sustainable movement of goods (urban freight).

The other finalists were Utrecht (The Netherlands) and Vienna (Austria).

The 4th SUMP Award Finalists' video

Background:

Each year, the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award serves to honour a local authority that has used creativity and innovation to promote sustainable urban mobility and implement measures to achieve a shift towards more sustainable means of transport.

The winner of the award, as well as finalist and shortlisted cities, were selected by a panel of independent mobility experts. 53 applications were submitted from 19 countries.

The Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning recognises local authorities that develop a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) that satisfies the diverse transport needs of people and businesses, whilst improving quality of life. The 4th SUMP award focused on multimodality and intermodality in sustainable urban mobility planning.

The finalists were selected by an award jury composed of experts in sustainable urban mobility planning.