NEWS - 2021/03/03

Mobility Strategies during COVID-19 Times

A consortium conformed by CARNET, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), BABLE, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), and CTAG carried out a study about the impact that COVID-19 has had on the urban mobility systems of our cities. The consortium, supported by the EIT Urban Mobility, designed a survey to learn more about the effects of the pandemic on urban mobility systems, which was answered by 16 cities. The survey aimed at examining the effects of the pandemic crisis on urban mobility systems and understanding the main challenges and strategies. The partners also interviewed 12 stakeholders that have been involved in the changes applied to urban mobility in different European regions.

The final report analyses the external factors or threats influencing the design of urban mobility projects before the crisis, gathering insights on the effects that the crisis had on these strategies and priorities and which measures have been taken to react to the current situation. All the insights gathered were analysed by the consortium, which developed a handbook to support cities in making urban mobility systems more resilient and sustainable. The report provides an evaluation of the mobility measures taken during the pandemic, few months after their implementation.

 

Figure 1: Impact of COVID in the implementation of city’s mobility plans.

 

According to the surveys and the interviews, COVID-19 has not proved to be a decisive factor in urban mobility systems, but has appeared to be an accelerator for urban development. The report shows that some European cities have used COVID-19 to foster some measures previously developed in their mobility plans, and although we aren’t seeing any radical changes in their strategies, they are adapting them to the current situation to solve previous sustainability challenges.

Figure 2: Changes in strategies due to COVID-19.

 

Read the full report here: https://www.eiturbanmobility.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Urban-mobility-strategies-during-COVID-19_long-1.pdf