The three sustainable amigos

Is the priority for sustainable mobility in Germany the same as in the Netherlands? Does the UK face similar challenges, or are they battling different mobility monsters? MindsinMotion.net got three European Mobility Week (EMW) coordinators together (virtually) to discuss the future of sustainable transport in Europe.

The three experts in question are Dutch coordinator Marjon Meijer, the UK’s Richard Evans and André Muno of Germany.

Public transport over technology
First off, we asked the trio which mobility technology is the most likely to succeed and take over from petrol cars. But surprisingly, all three were quite sceptical about how much impact technology can have.

“Technology can help, but electric cars or biofuels do not offer a total solution. One technology may work for one municipality or country, but not for everyone,” says Marjon.

André agrees. He says what is required is a really good public transport system so that people can leave their cars behind.

“Even if you have cars running on electricity, there is still a limit to how many cars can be on the road. We need an efficient, integrated public transport system that allows people a real transport choice – like buses that take bicycles, or that are linked to train departure times,” says André.

Priority to cyclists
When it comes to bicycles, no-one is a bigger fan than Richard Evans. He would love to see cyclists given more priority on our roads, at the expense of cars. He also thinks cars should have their speed automatically restricted by Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA). ISA technology is currently in development and helps a driver to keep to the speed limit by automatically limiting the vehicle speed to the restrictions for that particular road.

It’s clear from this point that when it comes to sustainable mobility, these co-ordinators will back the benefits of the bicycle until bedtime.

André says Freiburg’s heavy investment in its cycle routes in the 1980s is a stand-out sustainable mobility project which embodies the spirit of EMW. The university town has bicycle lanes that run alongside all its main roads and those that reach out to surrounding locations. It also has more than five thousand cycle racks next to tram stops and the main train station, as well as bike hire shops. The extensive network of lanes amounts to almost two hundred kilometres, which André says ensures that around one in three people on Freiburg’s roads use pedal power.

Not bad, but has he never visited the Netherlands? The whole country is one big cycle network and the cycle racks are bigger than houses.

Richard sees the Dutch and the Germans as pioneers of planning for cycles, and he says London is finally following suit with more cycling lanes, learning from the lessons of its European counterparts and seeing rewards with more people using bicycles in the capital city.

Eastern inspiration
For Marjon, the inspiration is in the East. She applauds the former communist countries in eastern Europe for keeping their city tram networks. In much of western Europe, the tram systems were ripped up fifty years ago in the name of progress, and are now being re-built at huge expense. The communist states simply stood still, kept their trams, and waited for the rest of Europe to come full circle. Although of course, it’s arguable whether that policy was deliberate!

Put their money where their mouth is
So what are the biggest challenges in achieving sustainable mobility?

André says there will be little behavioural change if governments do not invest in clean, cheap and efficient public transport systems. Marjon agrees. She says that governments must put their money where their mouth is and lead the way with transport alternatives that persuade people to leave their cars at home.

So, governments, over to you.