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BUSTRIP Newsletter 3

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Union of the Baltic Cities Sustainable Cities Commission
Union of the Baltic Cities Sustainable Cities Commission

The document summarizes experiences from cities that have developed Sustainable Urban Transport Plans (SUTPs) through the BUSTRIP project. It discusses how Bremen, Tartu, and Pärnu have incorporated the SUTP concept in different ways based on their local contexts and needs. Bremen focused on upgrading existing plans and policies to align with SUTP objectives. Tartu emphasized stakeholder involvement in its SUTP process. Pärnu adapted the SUTP concept to the needs of a smaller resort city. Overall the document highlights the value of the SUTP approach but also that each city must tailor it to their own situation.

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Project is part-financed by the European Union. moving sustainably Newsletter 3, September 2007 Guidebook for planning Sustainable Urban Transport Don’t miss sustainable transport www.bustrip-project.net
By Virpi Kaukavuori and Anna Szary Tomorrow, today SUTP Four capital letters can permanently change urban mobility patterns. Urban mobility is a hot topic. Also the European Commission options. This thematic has already become familiar also in the points out that something needs to be done with the current BUSTRIP project. How can the quality of public transport be transport patterns in the cities. improved? How walking and cycling can be promoted? How to optimise the use of private cars? After an extensive consultation, the European Commission adopted the Green Paper on Urban Transport in September The Green Paper sets a European agenda for urban mobility, 2007. It leads the way “towards a new culture for urban mobil- while respecting the responsibilities of local, regional and national ity”, as the document is titled. At this stage, the Green Paper authorities in this field. does not propose concrete policy measures but rather launches further debate among the citizens and stakeholders to share “European cities are different but they share similar challenges: their views with the Commission on possible options for actions. congestion, climate change, pollution and safety. The Green A detailed EU Action Plan on urban mobility will follow in autumn Paper will focus European attention on the urban dimension 2008. of transport policy and put the spotlights on innovative policies which pioneering cities throughout Europe are putting in place. Jacques Barrot, the Vice President of the Commission and in My purpose is to find out what Europe can do to support those charge of transport, welcomed the great interest for Green Paper policies”, Vice-President Barrot said. from the European stakeholders. “The useful input that we have collected helps us to better understand the reality of Europe’s cit- Get politicians onboard! ies and the expectations of citizens and stakeholders. I believe that we now present a well-balanced document”, he said. In 2004, EU Expert Working Group on Sustainable Urban Trans- port suggested Sustainable Urban Transport Plans, SUTP, as The Green Paper presents a set of policy issues for urban mobil- one important tool for making urban transports more sustain- ity and includes twenty five open questions addressing these 2
able. The importance of SUTP was also stressed in the recent perous city. “People and decision-makers are increasingly aware Green Paper consultation input from the BUSTRIP project. of how well developed and sustainable transport systems are shaping the economic, social and environmental future.” This is Twelve BUSTRIP partner cities have faced the challenges in an argument that no decision-maker can resist. practice and developed and tested SUTP as an integrative plan- ning tool. The SUTP process has been found as a beneficial way The BUSTRIP project has developed a guidebook for making of promoting sustainable transport within the municipality and Sustainable Urban Transport Plans. It can be adapted not only among the stakeholders. Preparing a SUTP is a planning proc- for European cities to prepare integrated plans leading to sus- ess that requires integrated methods and new ways of think- tainable urban transports, but also assist cities around the globe. ing. It requires not only efforts made on technical matters but The guidebook gives hands-on guidance on how to involve citi- also the more complicated aspect, namely citizens – and poli- zens and stakeholders in the SUTP process, and set measurable ticians – commitment. and relevant targets for improving the urban transports. Political acceptance is the key to put good intentions and The guidebook has a focus on the process but it also impli- speeches into practice. This is also what Peeter Tiks, the exec- cates the need for action. As Anna Granberg, BUSTRIP Project utive officer in the Estonian Ministry of the Economic Affairs and Coordinator puts it: “Our partner cities have found the proc- Communication, believes. “The Estonian government would like ess very rewarding. They consider the SUTP as a powerful tool to change the way of thinking that private cars are the best mode to implement Sustainable Transport, battling also the Climate of transport”, he says. Change”. Peeter Tiks stresses the importance of political commitment and So cities around the globe just do it - SUTP offers tomorrow hands-on actions. He gives an example from Tallinn that has today! started to improve the tramlines. “If we invest in public trans- port lines, it brings more people to use the services and at the same time makes people understand the importance of sustain- able transport”, he says. Political support is needed already from the beginning of the strategic planning. In Gdynia, the trolleybus lines have experi- enced an actual renaissance after they got more political sup- port, confirms Marcin Wolek, Chairman of the UBC Commission on Transport, and a member of Gdynia City Council. Contents Without a doubt, the Green Paper arrives just in time to speed Tomorrow, today - SUTP 2 up this kind of sustainable transport processes that have started in many cities around Europe. Contents 3 Global Challenge SUTP experiences gathered and tools developed 4 Europe is not alone with the urban transport challenges. Bad air quality, congestion and threat to the competitiveness of the cit- Cities on the move on a long road 5 ies have been acknowledged all over the world. Upgrading in Bremen 6 “Ensuring accessibility and mobility in emerging cities is a key concern for most decision-makers, be it in Europe, Asia, Latin Involvement is the key in Tartu 7 America or Africa”, says Armin Wagner from GTZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH. His Targets set in Pärnu 7 organisation works on behalf of German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development together with organ- Pilot actions – a tool for stepwise learning 8 isations in developing countries to promote sustainable urban mobility. Inspiring school travel plans in Kaunas 9 The SUTP is also a relevant global tool. “However, developing Monitoring air quality in Liepaja 10 concepts for sustainable transport require both a clear vision and strong cooperation with other partners from the political arena, Bicycle parking for pupils in Vilnius 10 businesses and civil society groups. Hence, the integrative and guiding approach of SUTP is a good way to achieve sustainable Project Steering Group 11 results in emerging cities around the globe”, Wagner says. Publishing information 11 Wagner does not only emphasize the SUTP as a tool to improve the state of the environment but also as a prerequisite for a pros- Project partners 12 3
SUTP experiences gathered and tools developed The preparation and adoption of Sustainable Urban Transport various ways and paves the way for more sustainable urban liv- Plan is a process that often requires totally new thinking, coop- ing. The concept of the SUTP takes this thinking a step further. eration and integration in the city administration. Thus compre- The integration is not only about land-use and transport issues, hensive tools and guidance for the SUTP process are required. but also about integrating health, education, awareness raising, The BUSTRIP project produces a SUTP toolbox that is based strategic business development, social issues etc. into the plan- on the findings and lessons learnt from the project where twelve ning of urban mobility. Baltic Sea Region cities have been preparing SUTPs. The cities will present the achievements of their SUTP processes at the SUTP calls for the extensive involvement of stakeholders out- BUSTRIP Final Conference in 7-9 November 2007 in Turku. side the city administration; NGOs, citizens and business rep- resentatives. It requires close cooperation with the national and SUTP process builds on the existing strengths and opportunities regional level to ensure compliance with the higher level strat- of a city. Integration is the key to SUTP. Some European forerun- egies and plans and to advance the sustainable development ners, especially bigger cities, have integrated land use and trans- of the whole urban area – since mobility does not take account port planning with great results. The integration of planning not of borders. Furthermore, the SUTP concept acknowledges the only has effects on the environment, lowered air quality emis- importance of inclusion of all groups of society and puts special sions, and lower noise levels, but it also affects people’s lives in a focus on the gender aspect. One fundamental ingredient of a SUTP is the using of a sustain- able city vision as a starting point for the SUTP work. The vision that shows the high-level direction of the plan can serve as a guiding star for the whole process and can be used in the mar- keting of the work. For a successful SUTP the setting of meas- urable and time limited targets is crucial; without these it is not possible to evaluate the plan. To measure and follow-up on the impact of the actions is another crucial part. The final product of BUSTRIP project, the SUTP toolbox called “Moving Sustainably”, gives tools and guidance for the transport and urban planners. The users will be guided through the differ- ent parts of the SUTP process. The toolbox functions as a com- prehensive guide in making the sustainable transport planning more structured and integrative. The toolbox will be published in the form of a guidebook and a web site in November 2007. The guidebook will be available in English, Lithuanian, Latvian, Esto- nian, Finnish, Swedish, German and Polish. The guidebook can be ordered free of charge from the contact below. Su By Anna Granberg st Tr aina BUSTRIP Project Coordinator an ble anna.granberg@ubc.net s Ou port Urb r c Pla an ity n 4
Cities on the move on a long road to sustainable transport As the BUSTRIP-project moves into its final phase, it’s time to BUSTRIP has certainly helped to start SUTP-work in all begin- look back and forward to reflect on how far the BUSTRIP-cities ner cities and to structure it more clearly in the more advanced have come on their way towards sustainable urban transport cities. The real success of the project will, however, first show in and what still lies ahead. the future – by whether the cities have become more sustaina- ble and pleasant places to live, work and visit! Has the air quality improved? Do more people cycle? Have con- gestion and parking problems been resolved? Have we become By Michael Koucky, UBC TransCom, Göteborg less dependent on oil for transport? Coordinator of SUTP work package michael.koucky@koucky.se Most probably, the truth for all BUSTRIP-cities is that there is still a long way to go before it can be claimed that urban transport is sustainable. It’s not surprising since unsustainable transport patterns and infrastructure have emerged over decades and are not changed overnight. However, every BUSTRIP-city has moved a bit in the right direc- tion and has laid a foundation for future work for sustainable transport. Awareness of the challenges and improved cooper- ation between city departments and with stakeholders is a cru- cial aspect of SUTP-work and most cities have made significant progress on these fields. The starting position, political situation and the resources avail- able differ greatly between the cities and every city had to find its own, workable solution for the SUTP-process. By summer 2007 many BUSTRIP cities had finished their draft SUTPs, while some are still working on them. In any case, it is impor- tant that cities concentrate on the essentials in their SUTP and address them first – policy coordination, clearly defined goals, follow up mechanisms, cooperation between departments and stakeholder involvement. Transforming a city’s transport system is a long process and the SUTP can and should be gradually improved, getting more detailed and setting new, more ambi- tious goals. Given the difficulty of the challenge, a long term approach and perspective is certainly needed to achieve a sus- tainable transport system! An experience from the BUSTRIP-project is the importance of political support and understanding in successful SUTP-work. Local politicians should get involved as early as possible in the process and in capacity building to create a better understand- ing and support for the work carried out on the administrative level. Because of the long time-perspective in infrastructure and traffic pattern changes, a continuity of political support for the main goals of SUTP is essential. It is therefore important to cre- ate broad political support and understanding for SUTP-goals and to ensure that all relevant stakeholders get informed and involved in the process. 5
Upgrading is the core point in Bremen SUTP The mobility patterns in Bremen are comparatively good from a The Action Plan for Air Quality Management is another example sustainability point of view taking into account that it is a vibrant of SUTP-understanding. It is a cross-sectoral plan and contains harbour city characterized by transport, trade and traffic. The not only the Environmental Zone or directly emission-related modal-split for the sustainable modes of walking, cycling and measures, but also the promotion of cycling and walking, the Public Transport is about 60%. further development of Car-Sharing, the extension of the tram network etc. Already in the 90s, the philosophy of what nowadays is called “SUTP” has been used in the “Integrative Transport Concept” In regard to the SUTP concept and philosophy, it is evident that in Bremen. This concept did not contain pure transport plan- many municipalities fear the burden of an additional plan and ning, but an integrative approach. The scenario methodology related workload. In fact, it would make no sense to just add that was used showed the relation between the economic and another new plan which may not be in line with the other pol- demographic development on one side and transport on the icy areas. In Bremen the focus is, instead, to adjust the existing other side. One key element in relation to spatial development instruments and policies towards the objectives of sustainable was the question of concentrating traffic in corridors. The result- urban development including stakeholder cooperation and citi- ing options allowed drawing conclusions for adequate measures zen participation already in the early planning stages. to influence the current trends. It also shows the limits of poten- tial actions in transport planning. For a forerunner city like Bremen, Sustainable Urban Transport Planning is, above all, a question of continuous “content man- The results have led to political decisions e.g. to extend the tram agement” or upgrading of existing plans and instruments. There network and to concentrate on certain housing developments is not one recipe for SUTPs in general, but a clear political agree- in areas with good Public Transport infrastructure. The results ment is needed about the objectives of urban development in have been very important for other development concepts and general. This may need still some further processes to convince plans in the city and in the region e.g. for the “Urban Develop- decision-makers. ment Concept”, the “Regional Development Concept”, the “Pub- lic Transport Plan” and the “Action Plan for Air Quality Manage- ment”, which is a politically hot issue in Bremen. By Michael Glotz-Richter Free Hanseatic City of Bremen None of these instruments has used the title “Sustainable Urban Senate for Environment, Construction, Transport Transport Plan” although especially the Integrative Transport and European Affairs Concept more or less covers the SUTP philosophy. Senior Project Manager on Sustainable Mobility bustrip@umwelt.bremen.de 6
Involvement is Targets set in the key – Active Pärnu SUTP process in Tartu Pärnu is a small resort city depending heavily on seasonal tour- ism. The smallest of the BUSTRIP cities, Pärnu has modified the SUTP concept to meet the needs of a smaller town that has some of the same challenges as the bigger cities, but on In Tartu, one of the successes of the SUTP process has been the different scale. active stakeholder involvement and the interest for cooperation and capacity building in the field of urban transport and mobil- The main goal in planning sustainable transport in Pärnu is to ity. Positive surprises were how eagerly people have joined the diminish the use of private cars. Even though air quality is not transport and sustainable development related debate initiated an issue in Pärnu yet, there are already congestion and parking by the BUSTRIP project, how much participation there has been problems due to excessive cars and the quality of urban envi- in the inter-sectoral SUTP working group and how easily people ronment is suffering. BUSTRIP has made the town realize the have accepted the SUTP principles dealing with the inclusion of need for a cross-sectoral approach in transport planning, espe- people, organisations and institutions. cially the integration of land-use and transport planning. Spe- The preconditions for the development of SUTP cooperation cialists and stakeholders from various fields have been involved network existed by the start of the process in Tartu. The earlier in the SUTP process and the cooperation between the munici- working team, Cycling Town Tartu, consisted of cycling activ- pality and different interest groups is growing. ists, specialists, organisations and politicians. There was also a Traffic Council that united the people working with city traffic. The SUTP process has been a motivator in encouraging the It was easy to proceed from and expand these teams as they cooperation between the sprawling Pärnu city and the surround- were based on specific needs, dealt with sustainable transport ing municipalities. The leaders of the municipalities have been and considered modern European values such as the creation involved in the preparation process of Pärnu’s SUTP. Coopera- of equal opportunities for different social groups, gender and tion needs have been discussed and a common vision for the age equality, etc. whole functional urban area has been derived. Tartu, as well as the whole Estonia, is under rapid economic Pärnu’s SUTP aims at developing a fair, accessible and attractive development. Therefore, it is difficult to forecast developments public transport system. Another major goal is to improve the in infrastructure for more than a couple of years. This prob- currently underdeveloped bicycle policy. A third important goal is lem is characteristic of the new EU Member States and casts a to better handle the transport problems related to tourists. Imple- somewhat different light on the term “sustainable development” menting clearly targeted measures according to the main goals compared with the rest of Europe. However, this is exactly why will hopefully diminish the use of private car in the city. designing the future of the city must involve cooperation with as many different stakeholders and social groups of the commu- Participation in BUSTRIP and the activities related to it have nity as possible. Then, needs can be mapped and the choices been important first steps for Pärnu in developing sustainable that must be made can be analysed together. We believe that urban transport. Although there is a long way to go, the target such an approach to the issue creates excellent conditions for has been set. the sustainable development of Tartu. The BUSTRIP project has made its contribution to this. By Grete Kukk Senior Specialist of Urban Development, City of Pärnu By Marek Muiste grete.kukk@lv.parnu.ee BUSTRIP City Coordinator in Tartu muiste@hot.ee 7
Pilot Actions - a tool for stepwise learning Achieving the targets of the SUTP requires a change of transport Walking and cycling is the focus in two cities. The aim of the patterns of citizens and goods. This is neither a quick nor one- ‘promoter of cycling and walking’ in Turku is to strengthen these step-process. Many targeted actions over a long time address- transport modes as viable alternatives to the car. Vilnius focuses ing awareness and offering transport alternatives are required. on the students’ awareness and builds bike parking facilities at Pilot actions are tools for stepwise learning to implement sus- a sample school. Clean vehicles are the spotlight in two cities tainable transport. that aim to reduce the air pollution. In Sundsvall several pub- lic transport buses use synthetic diesel. In Bremen an ‘environ- With the pilot actions, the BUSTRIP partner cities test innova- mental loading point’ offers access to an attractive loading site tive approaches before they are implemented on larger scale. in the city centre exclusively for EEV and Euro 5 distribution vehi- A central element within these small scale actions is monitor- cles. Changing travel behaviour of a dedicated group is the goal ing and evaluation of the action’s outcome in order to iden- in three cities. Mobility coaching in Göteborg aims at reducing tify the underlying reasons of successes and failures. The les- car usage. Kaunas supports students to develop travel plans sons learnt help to adjust the approach to local conditions and for their school. Örebro’s work with the shopkeepers in the city improve the implementation on larger scale. The experiences centre aims at consolidating their deliveries. enable the cities to use this tool in the future to achieve the objectives of their SUTP. By Sönke Behrends Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg The BUSTRIP pilot actions address all stages of behavioural Coordinator of Pilot Action work package change (see picture). General awareness raising actions take behrends@chalmers.se place in two cities. Tartu organises a ‘car-free-day’ with the goal to raise the citizens’ awareness of unsustainable transport devel- opments in the city. The air-quality measurement in Liepaja eval- uates the influence of traffic on the local air quality. 7. Permanent Targeted coaching for permanent change Improving the attractiveness of alternative transport modes is behaviour School travel plans (Kaunas) addressed by several cities in different ways. Public transport Mobility coaching (Göteborg) related actions are implemented in four cities. The Kouvola 6. Experimental Freight delivery concolidation (Örebro) Region improves the service level of a high-quality bus corri- behaviour dor and Sundsvall improves the integration of private and pub- lic transport by building new Park & Ride facilities. Gdynia prior- itises buses at crossroads to decrease the travel time. It is also 5. Making Possibilities to change the goal in Örebro where new express bus line connects the city a choice Public transport centre with the surrounding municipalities. Pärnu aims at improv- Public transport priority (Gdynia) ing passenger information. Park and Ride (Sundsvall) High-quality public transport corridor (Kouvola) Public transport travellers information (Pärnu) 4. Evaluation Cycling and walking of options Promoter of cycling and walking (Turku) Cycling at schools (Vilnius) Clean Vehicles 3. Perception Synthetic Diesel (Sundsvall) of options Enviromental loading point (Bremen) 2. Accepting Citizens’ awareness Responsibility Car-free-day (Tartu) Air-quality-management (Liepaja) 1. Awareness of problem 8
Inspring school travel plans in Kaunas In Kaunas schoolchildren are the ones implementing a local The School Travel Plan project (STP) helps the implementa- BUSTRIP pilot action. The initiative for the school travel plan tion and profile raising of the Kaunas Sustainable Urban Trans- pilot came from the Peer Review recommendations. For Kau- port Plan. It empowers school pupils to understand issues that nas the school travel plan pilot is an important step in terms of affect them, and present these issues in a way that produces the sustainable development issues, as the city is still learning how desired results and improvements. The project aims to engage to effectively engage with communities in a way that provides a other community stakeholders in understanding and taking an long term, two-way relationship. interest in urban transport, mobility, and environmental issues. From the municipality side, project coordination has been pre- In December 2006, Kaunas municipality started working with dominantly by the City Programme Development Division in two schools in the outer suburbs of the city, Šilainai and Viliam- direct partnership with the local Trolleybus company. Some pole. The aim of the pilot is to improve the journey and journey administrative input came from the Transport Division and some environment for schoolchildren in two suburban schools through creative input from the Environmental Division. a set of practical and achievable recommendations. The results The schoolchildren involved in the project have been fantas- of the school travel plan pilot will be effectively promoted to as tic! They rose to the challenge almost without management wide audience as possible from the project team. They have been genuinely interested in Based on ‘safe route to schools’ materials provided by a Brit- the issue and are interested in continuing to be involved. Part ish organisation called Sustrans, the pupils have prepared their of the continuation of their interest will be realised in the form own versions of qualitative and quantitative questionnaires, dis- of an exchange trip with Spyken School in Lund, Sweden in tributed them amongst their fellow pupils, and prepared the Autumn 2007. results into a series of charts, tables and summary informa- tion. They have also taken photographic evidence of the prob- By James McGeever lems in their journey environment to add to their school travel BUSTRIP City Coordinator in Kaunas plan final report. james.mcgeever@kaunas.lt The initial response from the pupils involved has been in favour of changing the way they travel in and around the city. The fact that some of the pupils will be featured on a BUSTRIP ‘car-less city’ advertisement on the outside of city trolley buses will at least make their parents sit up and think a little bit more. The pupils have also made a video of their experiences which will hope- fully help to persuade others to positively change their mobil- ity habits. STOP I’M WALKING HERE 9
Monitoring Air Bicycle parking for Quality in Liepaja pupils in Vilnius Air quality management is particularly crucial in cities, like In Vilnius there is an increasing interest in different non-motor- Liepaja, with unsystematic location of industrial, green and resi- ised transportation means, like the new “Eurovelo 11” cycling dential areas, in order to secure dynamic and sustainable devel- paths. Various events and sociological surveys meant to pro- opment. The development of an action plan for improving air mote sustainable urban transport and to influence the politicians quality in Liepaja was initiated in January 2004 by Estonian, have been organised during the last couple of years. Related Latvian, Lithuanian Environment Ltd. in cooperation with the themes and project ideas are also embedded in the Lithuania’s Environmental Department of Liepaja City Council. As part of the legal system, particularly in Lithuania’s long-term transport strat- planned activities of the Action Plan and considering the current egy which emphasises the attempts to strengthen the interac- local issues, such as the elaboration of the Traffic Organization tion among different kinds of transport. Scheme for the city centre, Liepaja has implemented NO2 mon- itoring together with measurements of traffic flow in the city cen- In Vilnius an important target group for awareness raising on sus- tre as their BUSTRIP pilot action. tainable transport behaviour are the schoolchildren. The local BUSTRIP pilot action has been chosen to increase bicycle use The air quality was monitored in several stages to study the for travels to and from school. According to the local surveys, present levels, appraise the possible level of priority substance one of the main reasons, why children are not bicycling to school pollution, and to define areas where residents are exposed to from neighbourhoods, is the absence of secured parking. There- sustained elevated pollution. An initial assessment included fore, Vilnius is taking an initiative to construct such an area near the analysis of sulphur dioxide, nitric dioxide, thoracic particles the žuolynas secondary school as their BUSTRIP pilot action. PM10, lead, ozone, benzene and carbon dioxide. Regarding The responsible body for BUSTRIP and this pilot action in Viln- nitric dioxide and thoracic particles PM10, the initial air quality ius is the local Healthy Cities Bureau. analysis showed potential problems. In the case of nitric dioxide pollution monitoring around arterial streets is recommended prior The plan and implementation of the secured bicycle parking to the implementation of measures for pollution reduction. places for the žuolynas’ schoolchildren is supported by the Head of the Lazdynai District, the authorities of the school, the In the pilot action five monitoring facilities were located in the schoolchildren and the communities. The pilot action is to dem- city center and the traffic flow was counted at 45 crossings with onstrate the necessity of similar parking places near the rest of different traffic loads. Within the action, the results of air pollu- Vilnius secondary schools and to give the children the stimulus tion in relation to the traffic flows and modes will be summarized to choose bicycles on their way to school. After the implemen- and modeled. The proposals for city’s transport organisation will tation of the pilot action Vilnius Healthy Cities Bureau anticipates then be elaborated to also include an assessment of their imple- great support and financial help from the authorities of the Vilnius mentation effectiveness. The results will be used to further the Municipality and businessmen for the continuation of the idea. SUTP process in Liepaja. By Danguole Vaitkiene By Dace Liepniece Director of Vilnius Healthy Cities Bureau Head of Environmental Department danguole.vaitkiene@vilnius.lt dacel@dome.liepaja.lv 10
Project Steering Group From left, Sakari Saarinen from UBC EnvCom, Håkan Perslow from UBC TransCom, Anna Granberg from UBC EnvCom, Sönke Behrends from Chalmers University of Technology, Michael Koucky from UBC TransCom, Sofie Vennersten from UBC TransCom and Maria Lindholm from Chalmers University of Technology, during the Project Steering Group meeting in Göte- borg Archipelago 16 August 2007. On the right the two other members of the Project Steering Group Allen Creedy, UBC EnvCom (down) and Björn Grönholm UBC EnvCom (up). BUSTRIP Newsletter 3 Publisher UBC Environment and Sustainable Development Secretariat The Old Observatory, Vartiovuori, FIN-20700 Turku, Finland Tel: +358 2 262 3201, Fax: +358 2 262 3425 Project contact persons Anna Granberg, Project Coordinator Mob. +358 50 4017 816, anna.granberg@ubc.net Sakari Saarinen, Project Officer Mob. +358 44 9075 994, sakari.saarinen@ubc.net Editorial team Sakari Saarinen, Chief-editor (UBC), Anna Granberg (UBC), Sari Sariola (UBC, layout), Virpi Kaukavuori (UBC, editor) Illustrations Drawings - Seppo Leinonen Front page photos: city of Kaunas (big photo), city of Tartu and city of Bremen (small photos) photo p.4&9 Anna Granberg, p. 5 Örebro, p.6 Bremen, p.7 Pärnu Newsletter template by ID BBN ISBN 978-952-5725-00-01 (nid.), 978-952-5725-01-08 (PDF) Published in September 2007 Printed by Painoprisma Oy BUSTRIP is part-financed by European Union (European Regional Development Fund) within the BSR INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme, the Finnish Ministry of Environment and partner cities. This Newsletter reflects the authors’ views. The European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in this publication. The BUSTRIP is part of the UBC Agenda 21 Programme 2004-2009 - Roadmap for Sustainable Baltic Cities. 11
Project city partners UBC EnvCom (LP) Anna Granberg Sundsvall anna.granberg@ubc.net Christer Tarberg Sakari Saarinen christer.tarberg@sundsvall.se sakari.saarinen@ubc.net Turku Örebro Mikko Laaksonen Per Elvingson mikko.k.laaksonen@turku.fi per.elvingson@orebro.se KouvolaRegion Hannu Koverola hannu.koverola@kouvolaregion.fi UBC TransCom Sofie Vennersten sofie.vennersten@tk.goteborg.se Håkan Perslow hakan.perslow@tk.goteborg.se Michael Koucky michael.koucky@koucky.se Tartu Chalmers University of Technology Marek Muiste Maria Lindholm muiste@hot.ee maria.lindholm@chalmers.se Sönke Behrends Pärnu behrends@chalmers.se Grete Kukk grete.kukk@lv.parnu.ee Göteborg Gunilla Fransson gunilla.fransson@tk.goteborg.se Liepaja Dace Liepniece dacel@dome.liepaja.lv Gdynia Kaunas Alicja Pawlowska James McGeever a.pawlowska@gdynia.pl james.mcgeever@kaunas.lt Vilnius Danguole Vaitkiene danguole.vaitkiene@vilnius.lt Aurelija Babiliute aurelija.babiliute@vilnius.lt Bremen Bremen Michael Glotz-Richter bustrip@umwelt.bremen.de www.bustrip-project.net

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BUSTRIP Newsletter 3

  • 1. Project is part-financed by the European Union. moving sustainably Newsletter 3, September 2007 Guidebook for planning Sustainable Urban Transport Don’t miss sustainable transport www.bustrip-project.net
  • 2. By Virpi Kaukavuori and Anna Szary Tomorrow, today SUTP Four capital letters can permanently change urban mobility patterns. Urban mobility is a hot topic. Also the European Commission options. This thematic has already become familiar also in the points out that something needs to be done with the current BUSTRIP project. How can the quality of public transport be transport patterns in the cities. improved? How walking and cycling can be promoted? How to optimise the use of private cars? After an extensive consultation, the European Commission adopted the Green Paper on Urban Transport in September The Green Paper sets a European agenda for urban mobility, 2007. It leads the way “towards a new culture for urban mobil- while respecting the responsibilities of local, regional and national ity”, as the document is titled. At this stage, the Green Paper authorities in this field. does not propose concrete policy measures but rather launches further debate among the citizens and stakeholders to share “European cities are different but they share similar challenges: their views with the Commission on possible options for actions. congestion, climate change, pollution and safety. The Green A detailed EU Action Plan on urban mobility will follow in autumn Paper will focus European attention on the urban dimension 2008. of transport policy and put the spotlights on innovative policies which pioneering cities throughout Europe are putting in place. Jacques Barrot, the Vice President of the Commission and in My purpose is to find out what Europe can do to support those charge of transport, welcomed the great interest for Green Paper policies”, Vice-President Barrot said. from the European stakeholders. “The useful input that we have collected helps us to better understand the reality of Europe’s cit- Get politicians onboard! ies and the expectations of citizens and stakeholders. I believe that we now present a well-balanced document”, he said. In 2004, EU Expert Working Group on Sustainable Urban Trans- port suggested Sustainable Urban Transport Plans, SUTP, as The Green Paper presents a set of policy issues for urban mobil- one important tool for making urban transports more sustain- ity and includes twenty five open questions addressing these 2
  • 3. able. The importance of SUTP was also stressed in the recent perous city. “People and decision-makers are increasingly aware Green Paper consultation input from the BUSTRIP project. of how well developed and sustainable transport systems are shaping the economic, social and environmental future.” This is Twelve BUSTRIP partner cities have faced the challenges in an argument that no decision-maker can resist. practice and developed and tested SUTP as an integrative plan- ning tool. The SUTP process has been found as a beneficial way The BUSTRIP project has developed a guidebook for making of promoting sustainable transport within the municipality and Sustainable Urban Transport Plans. It can be adapted not only among the stakeholders. Preparing a SUTP is a planning proc- for European cities to prepare integrated plans leading to sus- ess that requires integrated methods and new ways of think- tainable urban transports, but also assist cities around the globe. ing. It requires not only efforts made on technical matters but The guidebook gives hands-on guidance on how to involve citi- also the more complicated aspect, namely citizens – and poli- zens and stakeholders in the SUTP process, and set measurable ticians – commitment. and relevant targets for improving the urban transports. Political acceptance is the key to put good intentions and The guidebook has a focus on the process but it also impli- speeches into practice. This is also what Peeter Tiks, the exec- cates the need for action. As Anna Granberg, BUSTRIP Project utive officer in the Estonian Ministry of the Economic Affairs and Coordinator puts it: “Our partner cities have found the proc- Communication, believes. “The Estonian government would like ess very rewarding. They consider the SUTP as a powerful tool to change the way of thinking that private cars are the best mode to implement Sustainable Transport, battling also the Climate of transport”, he says. Change”. Peeter Tiks stresses the importance of political commitment and So cities around the globe just do it - SUTP offers tomorrow hands-on actions. He gives an example from Tallinn that has today! started to improve the tramlines. “If we invest in public trans- port lines, it brings more people to use the services and at the same time makes people understand the importance of sustain- able transport”, he says. Political support is needed already from the beginning of the strategic planning. In Gdynia, the trolleybus lines have experi- enced an actual renaissance after they got more political sup- port, confirms Marcin Wolek, Chairman of the UBC Commission on Transport, and a member of Gdynia City Council. Contents Without a doubt, the Green Paper arrives just in time to speed Tomorrow, today - SUTP 2 up this kind of sustainable transport processes that have started in many cities around Europe. Contents 3 Global Challenge SUTP experiences gathered and tools developed 4 Europe is not alone with the urban transport challenges. Bad air quality, congestion and threat to the competitiveness of the cit- Cities on the move on a long road 5 ies have been acknowledged all over the world. Upgrading in Bremen 6 “Ensuring accessibility and mobility in emerging cities is a key concern for most decision-makers, be it in Europe, Asia, Latin Involvement is the key in Tartu 7 America or Africa”, says Armin Wagner from GTZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH. His Targets set in Pärnu 7 organisation works on behalf of German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development together with organ- Pilot actions – a tool for stepwise learning 8 isations in developing countries to promote sustainable urban mobility. Inspiring school travel plans in Kaunas 9 The SUTP is also a relevant global tool. “However, developing Monitoring air quality in Liepaja 10 concepts for sustainable transport require both a clear vision and strong cooperation with other partners from the political arena, Bicycle parking for pupils in Vilnius 10 businesses and civil society groups. Hence, the integrative and guiding approach of SUTP is a good way to achieve sustainable Project Steering Group 11 results in emerging cities around the globe”, Wagner says. Publishing information 11 Wagner does not only emphasize the SUTP as a tool to improve the state of the environment but also as a prerequisite for a pros- Project partners 12 3
  • 4. SUTP experiences gathered and tools developed The preparation and adoption of Sustainable Urban Transport various ways and paves the way for more sustainable urban liv- Plan is a process that often requires totally new thinking, coop- ing. The concept of the SUTP takes this thinking a step further. eration and integration in the city administration. Thus compre- The integration is not only about land-use and transport issues, hensive tools and guidance for the SUTP process are required. but also about integrating health, education, awareness raising, The BUSTRIP project produces a SUTP toolbox that is based strategic business development, social issues etc. into the plan- on the findings and lessons learnt from the project where twelve ning of urban mobility. Baltic Sea Region cities have been preparing SUTPs. The cities will present the achievements of their SUTP processes at the SUTP calls for the extensive involvement of stakeholders out- BUSTRIP Final Conference in 7-9 November 2007 in Turku. side the city administration; NGOs, citizens and business rep- resentatives. It requires close cooperation with the national and SUTP process builds on the existing strengths and opportunities regional level to ensure compliance with the higher level strat- of a city. Integration is the key to SUTP. Some European forerun- egies and plans and to advance the sustainable development ners, especially bigger cities, have integrated land use and trans- of the whole urban area – since mobility does not take account port planning with great results. The integration of planning not of borders. Furthermore, the SUTP concept acknowledges the only has effects on the environment, lowered air quality emis- importance of inclusion of all groups of society and puts special sions, and lower noise levels, but it also affects people’s lives in a focus on the gender aspect. One fundamental ingredient of a SUTP is the using of a sustain- able city vision as a starting point for the SUTP work. The vision that shows the high-level direction of the plan can serve as a guiding star for the whole process and can be used in the mar- keting of the work. For a successful SUTP the setting of meas- urable and time limited targets is crucial; without these it is not possible to evaluate the plan. To measure and follow-up on the impact of the actions is another crucial part. The final product of BUSTRIP project, the SUTP toolbox called “Moving Sustainably”, gives tools and guidance for the transport and urban planners. The users will be guided through the differ- ent parts of the SUTP process. The toolbox functions as a com- prehensive guide in making the sustainable transport planning more structured and integrative. The toolbox will be published in the form of a guidebook and a web site in November 2007. The guidebook will be available in English, Lithuanian, Latvian, Esto- nian, Finnish, Swedish, German and Polish. The guidebook can be ordered free of charge from the contact below. Su By Anna Granberg st Tr aina BUSTRIP Project Coordinator an ble anna.granberg@ubc.net s Ou port Urb r c Pla an ity n 4
  • 5. Cities on the move on a long road to sustainable transport As the BUSTRIP-project moves into its final phase, it’s time to BUSTRIP has certainly helped to start SUTP-work in all begin- look back and forward to reflect on how far the BUSTRIP-cities ner cities and to structure it more clearly in the more advanced have come on their way towards sustainable urban transport cities. The real success of the project will, however, first show in and what still lies ahead. the future – by whether the cities have become more sustaina- ble and pleasant places to live, work and visit! Has the air quality improved? Do more people cycle? Have con- gestion and parking problems been resolved? Have we become By Michael Koucky, UBC TransCom, Göteborg less dependent on oil for transport? Coordinator of SUTP work package michael.koucky@koucky.se Most probably, the truth for all BUSTRIP-cities is that there is still a long way to go before it can be claimed that urban transport is sustainable. It’s not surprising since unsustainable transport patterns and infrastructure have emerged over decades and are not changed overnight. However, every BUSTRIP-city has moved a bit in the right direc- tion and has laid a foundation for future work for sustainable transport. Awareness of the challenges and improved cooper- ation between city departments and with stakeholders is a cru- cial aspect of SUTP-work and most cities have made significant progress on these fields. The starting position, political situation and the resources avail- able differ greatly between the cities and every city had to find its own, workable solution for the SUTP-process. By summer 2007 many BUSTRIP cities had finished their draft SUTPs, while some are still working on them. In any case, it is impor- tant that cities concentrate on the essentials in their SUTP and address them first – policy coordination, clearly defined goals, follow up mechanisms, cooperation between departments and stakeholder involvement. Transforming a city’s transport system is a long process and the SUTP can and should be gradually improved, getting more detailed and setting new, more ambi- tious goals. Given the difficulty of the challenge, a long term approach and perspective is certainly needed to achieve a sus- tainable transport system! An experience from the BUSTRIP-project is the importance of political support and understanding in successful SUTP-work. Local politicians should get involved as early as possible in the process and in capacity building to create a better understand- ing and support for the work carried out on the administrative level. Because of the long time-perspective in infrastructure and traffic pattern changes, a continuity of political support for the main goals of SUTP is essential. It is therefore important to cre- ate broad political support and understanding for SUTP-goals and to ensure that all relevant stakeholders get informed and involved in the process. 5
  • 6. Upgrading is the core point in Bremen SUTP The mobility patterns in Bremen are comparatively good from a The Action Plan for Air Quality Management is another example sustainability point of view taking into account that it is a vibrant of SUTP-understanding. It is a cross-sectoral plan and contains harbour city characterized by transport, trade and traffic. The not only the Environmental Zone or directly emission-related modal-split for the sustainable modes of walking, cycling and measures, but also the promotion of cycling and walking, the Public Transport is about 60%. further development of Car-Sharing, the extension of the tram network etc. Already in the 90s, the philosophy of what nowadays is called “SUTP” has been used in the “Integrative Transport Concept” In regard to the SUTP concept and philosophy, it is evident that in Bremen. This concept did not contain pure transport plan- many municipalities fear the burden of an additional plan and ning, but an integrative approach. The scenario methodology related workload. In fact, it would make no sense to just add that was used showed the relation between the economic and another new plan which may not be in line with the other pol- demographic development on one side and transport on the icy areas. In Bremen the focus is, instead, to adjust the existing other side. One key element in relation to spatial development instruments and policies towards the objectives of sustainable was the question of concentrating traffic in corridors. The result- urban development including stakeholder cooperation and citi- ing options allowed drawing conclusions for adequate measures zen participation already in the early planning stages. to influence the current trends. It also shows the limits of poten- tial actions in transport planning. For a forerunner city like Bremen, Sustainable Urban Transport Planning is, above all, a question of continuous “content man- The results have led to political decisions e.g. to extend the tram agement” or upgrading of existing plans and instruments. There network and to concentrate on certain housing developments is not one recipe for SUTPs in general, but a clear political agree- in areas with good Public Transport infrastructure. The results ment is needed about the objectives of urban development in have been very important for other development concepts and general. This may need still some further processes to convince plans in the city and in the region e.g. for the “Urban Develop- decision-makers. ment Concept”, the “Regional Development Concept”, the “Pub- lic Transport Plan” and the “Action Plan for Air Quality Manage- ment”, which is a politically hot issue in Bremen. By Michael Glotz-Richter Free Hanseatic City of Bremen None of these instruments has used the title “Sustainable Urban Senate for Environment, Construction, Transport Transport Plan” although especially the Integrative Transport and European Affairs Concept more or less covers the SUTP philosophy. Senior Project Manager on Sustainable Mobility bustrip@umwelt.bremen.de 6
  • 7. Involvement is Targets set in the key – Active Pärnu SUTP process in Tartu Pärnu is a small resort city depending heavily on seasonal tour- ism. The smallest of the BUSTRIP cities, Pärnu has modified the SUTP concept to meet the needs of a smaller town that has some of the same challenges as the bigger cities, but on In Tartu, one of the successes of the SUTP process has been the different scale. active stakeholder involvement and the interest for cooperation and capacity building in the field of urban transport and mobil- The main goal in planning sustainable transport in Pärnu is to ity. Positive surprises were how eagerly people have joined the diminish the use of private cars. Even though air quality is not transport and sustainable development related debate initiated an issue in Pärnu yet, there are already congestion and parking by the BUSTRIP project, how much participation there has been problems due to excessive cars and the quality of urban envi- in the inter-sectoral SUTP working group and how easily people ronment is suffering. BUSTRIP has made the town realize the have accepted the SUTP principles dealing with the inclusion of need for a cross-sectoral approach in transport planning, espe- people, organisations and institutions. cially the integration of land-use and transport planning. Spe- The preconditions for the development of SUTP cooperation cialists and stakeholders from various fields have been involved network existed by the start of the process in Tartu. The earlier in the SUTP process and the cooperation between the munici- working team, Cycling Town Tartu, consisted of cycling activ- pality and different interest groups is growing. ists, specialists, organisations and politicians. There was also a Traffic Council that united the people working with city traffic. The SUTP process has been a motivator in encouraging the It was easy to proceed from and expand these teams as they cooperation between the sprawling Pärnu city and the surround- were based on specific needs, dealt with sustainable transport ing municipalities. The leaders of the municipalities have been and considered modern European values such as the creation involved in the preparation process of Pärnu’s SUTP. Coopera- of equal opportunities for different social groups, gender and tion needs have been discussed and a common vision for the age equality, etc. whole functional urban area has been derived. Tartu, as well as the whole Estonia, is under rapid economic Pärnu’s SUTP aims at developing a fair, accessible and attractive development. Therefore, it is difficult to forecast developments public transport system. Another major goal is to improve the in infrastructure for more than a couple of years. This prob- currently underdeveloped bicycle policy. A third important goal is lem is characteristic of the new EU Member States and casts a to better handle the transport problems related to tourists. Imple- somewhat different light on the term “sustainable development” menting clearly targeted measures according to the main goals compared with the rest of Europe. However, this is exactly why will hopefully diminish the use of private car in the city. designing the future of the city must involve cooperation with as many different stakeholders and social groups of the commu- Participation in BUSTRIP and the activities related to it have nity as possible. Then, needs can be mapped and the choices been important first steps for Pärnu in developing sustainable that must be made can be analysed together. We believe that urban transport. Although there is a long way to go, the target such an approach to the issue creates excellent conditions for has been set. the sustainable development of Tartu. The BUSTRIP project has made its contribution to this. By Grete Kukk Senior Specialist of Urban Development, City of Pärnu By Marek Muiste grete.kukk@lv.parnu.ee BUSTRIP City Coordinator in Tartu muiste@hot.ee 7
  • 8. Pilot Actions - a tool for stepwise learning Achieving the targets of the SUTP requires a change of transport Walking and cycling is the focus in two cities. The aim of the patterns of citizens and goods. This is neither a quick nor one- ‘promoter of cycling and walking’ in Turku is to strengthen these step-process. Many targeted actions over a long time address- transport modes as viable alternatives to the car. Vilnius focuses ing awareness and offering transport alternatives are required. on the students’ awareness and builds bike parking facilities at Pilot actions are tools for stepwise learning to implement sus- a sample school. Clean vehicles are the spotlight in two cities tainable transport. that aim to reduce the air pollution. In Sundsvall several pub- lic transport buses use synthetic diesel. In Bremen an ‘environ- With the pilot actions, the BUSTRIP partner cities test innova- mental loading point’ offers access to an attractive loading site tive approaches before they are implemented on larger scale. in the city centre exclusively for EEV and Euro 5 distribution vehi- A central element within these small scale actions is monitor- cles. Changing travel behaviour of a dedicated group is the goal ing and evaluation of the action’s outcome in order to iden- in three cities. Mobility coaching in Göteborg aims at reducing tify the underlying reasons of successes and failures. The les- car usage. Kaunas supports students to develop travel plans sons learnt help to adjust the approach to local conditions and for their school. Örebro’s work with the shopkeepers in the city improve the implementation on larger scale. The experiences centre aims at consolidating their deliveries. enable the cities to use this tool in the future to achieve the objectives of their SUTP. By Sönke Behrends Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg The BUSTRIP pilot actions address all stages of behavioural Coordinator of Pilot Action work package change (see picture). General awareness raising actions take behrends@chalmers.se place in two cities. Tartu organises a ‘car-free-day’ with the goal to raise the citizens’ awareness of unsustainable transport devel- opments in the city. The air-quality measurement in Liepaja eval- uates the influence of traffic on the local air quality. 7. Permanent Targeted coaching for permanent change Improving the attractiveness of alternative transport modes is behaviour School travel plans (Kaunas) addressed by several cities in different ways. Public transport Mobility coaching (Göteborg) related actions are implemented in four cities. The Kouvola 6. Experimental Freight delivery concolidation (Örebro) Region improves the service level of a high-quality bus corri- behaviour dor and Sundsvall improves the integration of private and pub- lic transport by building new Park & Ride facilities. Gdynia prior- itises buses at crossroads to decrease the travel time. It is also 5. Making Possibilities to change the goal in Örebro where new express bus line connects the city a choice Public transport centre with the surrounding municipalities. Pärnu aims at improv- Public transport priority (Gdynia) ing passenger information. Park and Ride (Sundsvall) High-quality public transport corridor (Kouvola) Public transport travellers information (Pärnu) 4. Evaluation Cycling and walking of options Promoter of cycling and walking (Turku) Cycling at schools (Vilnius) Clean Vehicles 3. Perception Synthetic Diesel (Sundsvall) of options Enviromental loading point (Bremen) 2. Accepting Citizens’ awareness Responsibility Car-free-day (Tartu) Air-quality-management (Liepaja) 1. Awareness of problem 8
  • 9. Inspring school travel plans in Kaunas In Kaunas schoolchildren are the ones implementing a local The School Travel Plan project (STP) helps the implementa- BUSTRIP pilot action. The initiative for the school travel plan tion and profile raising of the Kaunas Sustainable Urban Trans- pilot came from the Peer Review recommendations. For Kau- port Plan. It empowers school pupils to understand issues that nas the school travel plan pilot is an important step in terms of affect them, and present these issues in a way that produces the sustainable development issues, as the city is still learning how desired results and improvements. The project aims to engage to effectively engage with communities in a way that provides a other community stakeholders in understanding and taking an long term, two-way relationship. interest in urban transport, mobility, and environmental issues. From the municipality side, project coordination has been pre- In December 2006, Kaunas municipality started working with dominantly by the City Programme Development Division in two schools in the outer suburbs of the city, Šilainai and Viliam- direct partnership with the local Trolleybus company. Some pole. The aim of the pilot is to improve the journey and journey administrative input came from the Transport Division and some environment for schoolchildren in two suburban schools through creative input from the Environmental Division. a set of practical and achievable recommendations. The results The schoolchildren involved in the project have been fantas- of the school travel plan pilot will be effectively promoted to as tic! They rose to the challenge almost without management wide audience as possible from the project team. They have been genuinely interested in Based on ‘safe route to schools’ materials provided by a Brit- the issue and are interested in continuing to be involved. Part ish organisation called Sustrans, the pupils have prepared their of the continuation of their interest will be realised in the form own versions of qualitative and quantitative questionnaires, dis- of an exchange trip with Spyken School in Lund, Sweden in tributed them amongst their fellow pupils, and prepared the Autumn 2007. results into a series of charts, tables and summary informa- tion. They have also taken photographic evidence of the prob- By James McGeever lems in their journey environment to add to their school travel BUSTRIP City Coordinator in Kaunas plan final report. james.mcgeever@kaunas.lt The initial response from the pupils involved has been in favour of changing the way they travel in and around the city. The fact that some of the pupils will be featured on a BUSTRIP ‘car-less city’ advertisement on the outside of city trolley buses will at least make their parents sit up and think a little bit more. The pupils have also made a video of their experiences which will hope- fully help to persuade others to positively change their mobil- ity habits. STOP I’M WALKING HERE 9
  • 10. Monitoring Air Bicycle parking for Quality in Liepaja pupils in Vilnius Air quality management is particularly crucial in cities, like In Vilnius there is an increasing interest in different non-motor- Liepaja, with unsystematic location of industrial, green and resi- ised transportation means, like the new “Eurovelo 11” cycling dential areas, in order to secure dynamic and sustainable devel- paths. Various events and sociological surveys meant to pro- opment. The development of an action plan for improving air mote sustainable urban transport and to influence the politicians quality in Liepaja was initiated in January 2004 by Estonian, have been organised during the last couple of years. Related Latvian, Lithuanian Environment Ltd. in cooperation with the themes and project ideas are also embedded in the Lithuania’s Environmental Department of Liepaja City Council. As part of the legal system, particularly in Lithuania’s long-term transport strat- planned activities of the Action Plan and considering the current egy which emphasises the attempts to strengthen the interac- local issues, such as the elaboration of the Traffic Organization tion among different kinds of transport. Scheme for the city centre, Liepaja has implemented NO2 mon- itoring together with measurements of traffic flow in the city cen- In Vilnius an important target group for awareness raising on sus- tre as their BUSTRIP pilot action. tainable transport behaviour are the schoolchildren. The local BUSTRIP pilot action has been chosen to increase bicycle use The air quality was monitored in several stages to study the for travels to and from school. According to the local surveys, present levels, appraise the possible level of priority substance one of the main reasons, why children are not bicycling to school pollution, and to define areas where residents are exposed to from neighbourhoods, is the absence of secured parking. There- sustained elevated pollution. An initial assessment included fore, Vilnius is taking an initiative to construct such an area near the analysis of sulphur dioxide, nitric dioxide, thoracic particles the žuolynas secondary school as their BUSTRIP pilot action. PM10, lead, ozone, benzene and carbon dioxide. Regarding The responsible body for BUSTRIP and this pilot action in Viln- nitric dioxide and thoracic particles PM10, the initial air quality ius is the local Healthy Cities Bureau. analysis showed potential problems. In the case of nitric dioxide pollution monitoring around arterial streets is recommended prior The plan and implementation of the secured bicycle parking to the implementation of measures for pollution reduction. places for the žuolynas’ schoolchildren is supported by the Head of the Lazdynai District, the authorities of the school, the In the pilot action five monitoring facilities were located in the schoolchildren and the communities. The pilot action is to dem- city center and the traffic flow was counted at 45 crossings with onstrate the necessity of similar parking places near the rest of different traffic loads. Within the action, the results of air pollu- Vilnius secondary schools and to give the children the stimulus tion in relation to the traffic flows and modes will be summarized to choose bicycles on their way to school. After the implemen- and modeled. The proposals for city’s transport organisation will tation of the pilot action Vilnius Healthy Cities Bureau anticipates then be elaborated to also include an assessment of their imple- great support and financial help from the authorities of the Vilnius mentation effectiveness. The results will be used to further the Municipality and businessmen for the continuation of the idea. SUTP process in Liepaja. By Danguole Vaitkiene By Dace Liepniece Director of Vilnius Healthy Cities Bureau Head of Environmental Department danguole.vaitkiene@vilnius.lt dacel@dome.liepaja.lv 10
  • 11. Project Steering Group From left, Sakari Saarinen from UBC EnvCom, Håkan Perslow from UBC TransCom, Anna Granberg from UBC EnvCom, Sönke Behrends from Chalmers University of Technology, Michael Koucky from UBC TransCom, Sofie Vennersten from UBC TransCom and Maria Lindholm from Chalmers University of Technology, during the Project Steering Group meeting in Göte- borg Archipelago 16 August 2007. On the right the two other members of the Project Steering Group Allen Creedy, UBC EnvCom (down) and Björn Grönholm UBC EnvCom (up). BUSTRIP Newsletter 3 Publisher UBC Environment and Sustainable Development Secretariat The Old Observatory, Vartiovuori, FIN-20700 Turku, Finland Tel: +358 2 262 3201, Fax: +358 2 262 3425 Project contact persons Anna Granberg, Project Coordinator Mob. +358 50 4017 816, anna.granberg@ubc.net Sakari Saarinen, Project Officer Mob. +358 44 9075 994, sakari.saarinen@ubc.net Editorial team Sakari Saarinen, Chief-editor (UBC), Anna Granberg (UBC), Sari Sariola (UBC, layout), Virpi Kaukavuori (UBC, editor) Illustrations Drawings - Seppo Leinonen Front page photos: city of Kaunas (big photo), city of Tartu and city of Bremen (small photos) photo p.4&9 Anna Granberg, p. 5 Örebro, p.6 Bremen, p.7 Pärnu Newsletter template by ID BBN ISBN 978-952-5725-00-01 (nid.), 978-952-5725-01-08 (PDF) Published in September 2007 Printed by Painoprisma Oy BUSTRIP is part-financed by European Union (European Regional Development Fund) within the BSR INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme, the Finnish Ministry of Environment and partner cities. This Newsletter reflects the authors’ views. The European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in this publication. The BUSTRIP is part of the UBC Agenda 21 Programme 2004-2009 - Roadmap for Sustainable Baltic Cities. 11
  • 12. Project city partners UBC EnvCom (LP) Anna Granberg Sundsvall anna.granberg@ubc.net Christer Tarberg Sakari Saarinen christer.tarberg@sundsvall.se sakari.saarinen@ubc.net Turku Örebro Mikko Laaksonen Per Elvingson mikko.k.laaksonen@turku.fi per.elvingson@orebro.se KouvolaRegion Hannu Koverola hannu.koverola@kouvolaregion.fi UBC TransCom Sofie Vennersten sofie.vennersten@tk.goteborg.se Håkan Perslow hakan.perslow@tk.goteborg.se Michael Koucky michael.koucky@koucky.se Tartu Chalmers University of Technology Marek Muiste Maria Lindholm muiste@hot.ee maria.lindholm@chalmers.se Sönke Behrends Pärnu behrends@chalmers.se Grete Kukk grete.kukk@lv.parnu.ee Göteborg Gunilla Fransson gunilla.fransson@tk.goteborg.se Liepaja Dace Liepniece dacel@dome.liepaja.lv Gdynia Kaunas Alicja Pawlowska James McGeever a.pawlowska@gdynia.pl james.mcgeever@kaunas.lt Vilnius Danguole Vaitkiene danguole.vaitkiene@vilnius.lt Aurelija Babiliute aurelija.babiliute@vilnius.lt Bremen Bremen Michael Glotz-Richter bustrip@umwelt.bremen.de www.bustrip-project.net