Sustainable mobility: towards a multimodal and integrated future

The year 2020 has been a year of many changes, also for sustainable mobility. Talking with our members we identify several key words for the goal 3 of the AIVP Agenda 2030: Smart technology, multimodality, public spaces, cycling, co-construction, citizen engagement, sharing, autonomous vehicles. In this article we summarized the interviews and articles we have published about the topic, but don't forget to read the original publications! Urban mobility is at the same time one of the main challenges for port cities, but also one of the areas in which we have experienced greatest changes in the past decade. There has been an evolution from the unquestionable domination of cars for daily commutes using combustion engines, to the massive implementation of multimodal solutions, shared mobility services, improved public transport, electric powered cars, bicycles or scooters, bicycle lanes, etc. In port cities this evolution has also been visible from a logistic perspective. Although the changes have taken place at a slower rhythm, the innovative projects in last-mile logistics to reduce the carbon footprint of these operations are growing each year. In a bigger scale we also see ambitious plans to decarbonize transportation, once again investing in multimodality, to reduce the share of road transport connected to ports, and boost both water and rail for inland distribution of cargo. From the local context to the global or continental logistic networks, port cities are at the core of these changes. In 2020, the pandemic has accelerated the changes in this field. While e-commerce becomes more common, common people become more familiarized with the term “shipping”, get used to tracking their parcels, and better understand the importance of ports in their every-day lives. At the same time, the limitations to physical interaction and government advices to avoid close contacts with others, have also encouraged many to adopt bicycles as means of daily transportation, enhancing the importance of dedicated lanes and smart systems that facilitate e-bicycle sharing. Indeed “smart” port and city solutions open a myriad of possibilities towards sustainable mobility, as we will see in this dossier. Sustainable mobility is Goal 03 of the AIVP Agenda 2030 and the third goal discussed in the autumn of 2020. The interviews, articles and webinar showed many inspirational projects for port city leaders, showing how our members are innovating. They demonstrate that this is one of the goals that may be easier to achieve in 2030, we can only imagine the mobility technology we will have then!…