The SUM project kicks off to improve sustainability of cities
The SUM (Seamless Shared Urban Mobility) project kicked off on 19-20 June in Lille, at the offices of the Project Coordinator, INRIA. The main goal of the SUM project is to revolutionise existing transportation networks by implementing innovative novel shared mobility systems (NSM) integrated with public transport in over 15 European Cities by 2026, with a target of reaching 30 cities by 2030.
SUM’s transformative initiative will focus on intermodality, interconnectivity, sustainability, safety, and resilience of transport. The project will consider the needs of various stakeholders, including end users, private companies and public urban authorities, and address the identified barriers to NSM adoption for families who rely heavily on cars. Through targeted push/pull measures and policy recommendations, the project aims to increase the usage of NSM by providing affordable and reliable solutions: it aims at shifting the behaviour of 34% of car travellers and 17% of individuals who are sceptical about using NSM.
The SUM project answers the European Commission’s call on greening urban areas, and fit in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy launched in 2020. This strategy has the objective of improving sustainable mobility, smart mobility, resilient mobility in order to achieve the European Green Deal’s target of reducing transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050.
According to the SUM project’s Policy Officer, CINEA’s Marjolein Salens, SUM will help improve Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans and the related policy framework (see, for instance, the Commission’s Recommendation on SUMPs published last March). SUM will establish the right environment in which testbeds will be deployed and in which concrete results will be delivered.
New business models and policy recommendations stemming from the project will be based on lessons learned and best practices. An exploitation plan is envisaged to make external partners (observer cities, Civitas members, member cities and organisations of the POLIS and ERTICO partnerships) engage with the project results.
