On 18 October 2018 a new edition of the yearly exchange session on sustainable mobility planning was held by CIVITAS-PROSPERITY’s Spanish partner Diputació de Barcelona (DIBA).

Following on the last European SUMP Conference and in line with the European Commission having dedicated the year 2018 to the promotion of multimodality, in this edition discussions and best practise exchange focused on multimodality issues.

In a context where climate and health issues are increasing the awareness on the need to further restrict car-based mobility, and with the emergence of new transport means and mobility services, the main goal of the exchange session is to discuss the following key issues for a better integration of transport modes and the delivery of efficient and attractive combined mobility solutions for passengers and freight in cities and regions:

• Leadership and cooperation between administrations and stakeholders
• Integration of the multimodal perspective on SUMP planning
• Regulatory framework
• Information and communication

The event started with a key note speech by CIVITAS-PROSPERITY’s expert Tom Rye, who introduced the multimodal concept (stating the differences with “intermodality”) and the challenges it poses un mobility planning practices, highlighting the need to establish appropriated mechanisms to foster cooperation between the multiple parties involved, being SUMPs the right framework for it. Rye also stressed the need to deploy a regulatory framework that favours integration and cooperation, reducing the risk that new emerging mobility actors follow mere competitive approaches.

Following the opening speech Lluis Alegre (Autoritat del Transport Metropolità) presented the situation od Barcelona Metropolitan Area in terms of multimodal integration, with a special focus on the successful integrated ticketing scheme and the future T-Mobilitat. While Hugo Moreno (Diputació de Barcelona) described how DIBA has adapted to a constantly changing context to support municipalities in the delivery of their mobility policies and presented ideas for the needed adaptation to the multimodal challenge.

Finally, a few examples of successful multimodal initiatives were presented:

• Mobile app to support Park&Ride in Castelldefels
• Integrated train and bus services to access National Parcs in Catalonia
• Bus services and cycle facilities to improve the attractiveness of train services in Santa Maria de Palautordera
• Compared potential of bike and personal mobility devices for multimodality. Ideas to foster multimodal approaches from VAIC
• Pilot program to promote the use of electric bicycles to foster multimodal commuting in Sant Quirze

More information (in local language), including a link to download all presentation, can be found here.