How does it work?
Cities are taken through a clearly defined 5-step approach:
1. Analyse mobility situation and understand city projects
Cities need to ask themselves a lot of questions about what they want in the end. “Do we want to develop public transport? Or is it sufficient but citizens are not making use of it for reasons we do not understand.”
“Should we make it more affordable and how to better integrate the different forms of mobility (individual and public)? And what would be the impact on congestion and/or air quality?”
“Maybe we want to make reduced travelling time for commuters a priority, or rather accessibility for the impaired?”
2. Understand and identify city priorities
One of the trickiest parts of the process is to make well balanced choices: what is the city’s mobility vision and what should be prioritized to ultimately get there? The SMIs guide cities in making these choices. Again, lots of questions like: “do we put cutting greenhouse gases before safety? Travel time before affordability? Comfort and pleasure before energy efficiency? And what is the interrelation between these different dimensions?”
3. Select mobility solutions
Once priorities have been set, cities can then pick solutions from a toolbox called ‘solutions finder’. Some cities will swear by a bus rapid transit, others might opt for the integration of cycling and public transport. Yet other cities will benefit more from implementing park and ride schemes or offering real time online traffic information.
4. Cross-check solutions through stakeholder engagements and trials + identify enablers
In this phase it’s crucial to verify/simulate whether the considered solution(s)
- is/are sustainable? Based on a business model? What are the benefits, to whom? Cost implications?
- will encourage behavioural change? Create pioneer groups. Simulate benefits.
- Are all the enablers in place? For example: if a solution requires a certain infrastructure, which is not in place due to policy constraints, then it may not be wise to pursue this option because of the missing ‘enabler’
5. Mobility plan
If all goes well the outcome should be an integrated mobility plan.