The CIVITAS PORTIS concept: A Game changer for Sustainable Mobility in Port Cities

Sustainable mobility is one of the priorities for the European Commission. Hence, there are several EU-financed projects focusing on this issue, fostering cooperation and sharing good practices between different cities. It is the case of the Civitas family of projects, of which one is focused on specific port-city mobility challenges, the Civitas Portis. As Dirk Engels, moderator from our mobility webinar, explains in his article, the approach defended in the project, based on smart data sharing for better governance and planning, has produced clear positive results in the five cases: Aberdeen, Antwerp, Constanta, Klaipeda and Trieste. Funded in the framework of the CIVITAS Initiative dedicated to cleaner and better transport in Europe and beyond, the CIVITAS PORTIS project implemented over 40 mobility and logistic strategic measures in the partner port cities of Aberdeen, Antwerp, Constanta, Klaipeda and Trieste. This approach has proven to be a game changer for sustainable mobility in all of the PORTIS cities, leading the way to clean and liveable cities, and undoubtedly has a strong take-up potential for other port cities and cities with a comparable traffic generator. Analysis of the approaches showed evidence that the CIVITAS PORTIS measures will result in an improved functioning of the cities and ports with the introduction of innovative strategies and measures in the different CIVITAS policy fields. This will have a strong positive impact on the way stakeholders cooperate and citizens make use of and perceive the transport system, on the transport system itself, and on related aspects such as environment, economy and energy. The CIVITAS PORTIS sustainable port city First of all, the CIVITAS PORTIS approach will inspire other port cities to build up and strengthen a strong framework for a sustainable port-city including a strong governance model and a sound data management system. Depending on the typology of the port city, defined by port ownership, the scale of the port in relation to the city, and the city and port traffic and special interaction, different measures will lead to a strong governance structure. Key elements of this framework are integrated policy decision lines and planning of SUMPS, and common Masterplans and strong technical cooperation to develop and manage the multi-modal transport system. This more formal governance structure is supported by informal discussion platforms integrating local and regional approaches e.g. new collaborative institutional structures on different operational and decision levels, workshops, focus groups, events, knowledge-sharing platforms and intensive cooperation with all stakeholders. The integrated SUMP is the basis for the implementation of a common sustainable mobility vision with integrated packages of measures. Responding to the current and future challenge to handle planning, historical, and real-time mobility-related data required to manage our multi-modal mobility system, and to inform and push optimal mobility behaviour and choices of stakeholders and…