Inspiration toolkit Mobility forum – Multimodal cities: common vision, multiple strategies 23-25 April 2018,

Contents Prague mobility ...... 1 Multimodality: how and why? ...... 4 EUROCITIES members’ innovative practices on introducing MaaS and multimodality ...... 5 Helsinki Smart Region, Finland ...... 5 Urban traffic management and public in Turin, Italy ...... 6 Sharing cities & smart city solutions for mobility in Bordeaux, France ...... 6

Highlights from the MOBILITY forum in PRAGUE ...... 8 MULTIMODAL cities ...... 8

Prague mobility

Geography and demography Prague is the capital and largest city of Czechia with a population of approximately 1.3 million inhabitants, 2.2 million if one includes its metropolitan area. Prague is one of the political, economic and cultural centres of Central Europe, complete with a rich history. The Czech capital covers an area of 496 square kilometres and is the 14th largest city in the European Union. Over 200,000 people use to commute to Prague each day. Thanks to its rich cultural heritage, Prague is one of the twenty most-visited cities in the world. Each year, more than 7.2 million tourists visit the city, and this number continues to grow. These are all challenges that the Prague transport system faces daily.

Public transport Prague has one of the highest percentage shares for public transport use in the EU. The reason for this is not only the long-running tradition of using public transport, but chiefly the well-developed integrated public transport system: a comprehensive public transport system where all means of transport are interconnected and coordinated. The name of this system is Prague Integrated Transport (Pražská integrovaná doprava – ‘PID’). The , , railway, , the and constitute one system where a single tariff applies, and travellers need only purchase one ticket to use any combination of transport means. The system is completely open and simple: travellers are not bothered by turnstiles or other access barriers. PID does not only include Prague, but the environs of the city as well. Soon, PID will be expanded to include the entire Central Bohemian Region. The backbone of the public transport system is : metro, and train. Its further development is of key importance to the city, both for the implementation of sustainable mobility principles and for the interconnection of public space. Since the 1990s, Prague has been trying to implement priority measures in its public transport. Most tram lines outside the central part of the city have their own designated lane (reserved track) in combination with various signals at traffic lights. transport habits are also continuing to develop in Prague. Currently, Prague has 31 kilometres of designated bus lanes and over 13 km of shared tram and bus lanes (semi-reserved tracks). Two companies work together in the PID system: ROPID (Regionální organizátor Pražské integrované dopravy – Prague Integrated Transport Authority) and IDSK (Integrovaná doprava Středočeského kraje – Central Bohemia Integrated Transport Authority). Their primary tasks include organising and designing transport, coordinating the operations of multiple organisations, setting quality standards, checking and marketing the system. Transport within the PID system is provided by 24 different companies, the biggest of which is Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy, a. s. (Prague Public Transit Company), which operates the metro, tram lines and most bus lines in Prague. The clear majority of railway lines are operated by České dráhy, a.s. (Czech Railways).

Travel behaviour and challenges 57% of all journeys in Prague use public transport. When this is combined with walking and cycling, it accounts for up to 80% of all journeys within the city! The metro, which opened its first line in 1974, is the most important mode of public transport and represents the

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backbone of the public transport network. Up to 36% of all travellers (more than 1.5 million people each day) use the metro, with the metro system being one of the most reliable in the world. Prague also has a very extensive network of tram lines (142.7 km), with trams transporting up to one third travellers. In the last few years, the tram network has been undergoing modernisation, and modern, low-floor wagons are being purchased. The suburban railway network (called ‘eSko’) has seen a marked rise in travellers in recent years. Its further development is of key importance to the entire metropolitan area, because the existing infrastructure faces technological limits (especially insufficient capacity).

Another success of this system is that up to 70% of all travellers use sustainable and environmentally friendly electric transport (metro, trams and trains). According to an Innova SUMP Project (2016) on behaviours in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region, an average person takes 3.57 journeys each day in Prague. The split between those journeys is: 0.82 by private transport, 1.67 by public transport and 1.08 by walking or cycling, which clearly shows the prestigious role of public transportation in the urban area. Every day, Prague’s citizens spend on average 104.9 minutes travelling within its metropolitan region (Interreg Europe, 2017). A major challenge for Prague is to increase the proportion of train journeys made both within the city and to outlying municipalities. This, however, means increasing the capacity of existing tracks, new tracks and stops, and unifying the rail diameter to make the system fully integrated. This effort is not only up to Prague, and it is therefore necessary to coordinate it with public investment and Správa železniční dopravné cesty (Railway Infrastructure Administration).

Public transport priority measures need to be developed to increase the speed and reliability of surface modes of transport (trams and buses). While most radial tram lines already run along reserved tracks and are given a high degree of preference at traffic lights, Prague still aims to develop priority measures for its buses. The biggest issues include the lack of continuity of designated bus lanes, an insufficient degree of priority for buses at traffic lights and general problems with discussing more progressive solutions with the public authorities concerned. Stops and transfer points are a weakness of PID. Many have a poor layout or lack barrier- free access. The accessibility of the metro stations is improving every year, however. Today, 43 of all 61 metro stations are fully accessible. In accordance with the municipal policy for removing barriers, the public transport system should be entirely barrier-free by 2025. Tram and bus stops are gradually being reconstructed as part of the reconstruction of tram tracks or individual streets. To ensure that greater progress is achieved in this area, which means new stops and transfer points that are of a high standard for all travellers, Prague has prepared a design manual defining the rules and requirements for designing PID stops and transfer points.

Another important area is the broader integration of modern technologies in the public transport information and dispatch system. The system could be improved, for examples, by introducing payment options via credit cards or mobile phones. Another major challenge is the deployment of electric buses in public transport. The Prague Public Transit Co. Inc. is actively taking part in the development of various electric bus technologies (especially regarding the specific nature of Prague: hilly terrain and long routes). It is also conducting numerous pilot projects to test the advantages and disadvantages of various technologies, so that it will be possible to deploy an electric bus fleet in the future and improve the environment of the city. It appears that Prague’s investment in public transportation is bearing fruit. Measures that have been implemented in recent years have resulted in the number of people using public

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transport within the city growing from 1.03 billion trips in 2000 to 1.28 billion trips in 2016 (i.e., an increase of 24%), and 1.36 billion trips within the PID system.

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Multimodality: how and why?

What is multimodality, and why is it so important for a more liveable city? As a consequence of rapid urbanisation traffic is a problem in dense urban areas and cities are turning away from planning streets around private use. Local transportation officials and urban planners now place a larger focus on offering many modes of travel and considering quality of life rather than simply encouraging driving everywhere. Though are still dominant, the era of the automobile seems to have peaked. Rather than relying on one mode of transportation, or expecting that most driving trips can be substituted by transit trips, people now need to be able to choose from a network of options, including cycling, walking or not travelling at all.

Multimodality takes advantage of the strengths of the different modes of transport, such as convenience, speed, cost, reliability, predictability, and can offer more efficient transport solutions for people and goods. This will help ease the pressure on our congested and make the whole sector more environmentally friendly, safer, and cost efficient. To support these aims EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc has called for 2018 to be the ‘Year of Multimodality’ during which the Commission will raise the importance of multimodality for the EU transport system.

How to create a multimodal system in urban regions? The rise of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) In recent years, as a positive result of efforts to introduce multimodal transport with more available cost-efficient choices for travellers, a shift from public to private ownership of ‘public transport’ services is evident. Car sharing, car rental/lease, bike sharing and private railway companies are gaining market share alongside traditional public transport operators. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) aims to combine all the available transport choices into one platform and offer added value through use of a single application to provide access to mobility, with a single payment channel instead of multiple ticketing and payment operations. For its users, MaaS should be the best value proposition, by helping them meet their mobility needs and solve the inconvenient parts of individual journeys, as well as the entire system of mobility services. A successful MaaS service also brings new business models and ways to organise and operate the various transport options, with advantages for transport operators including access to improved user and demand information and new opportunities to serve unmet

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demand. The aim of MaaS is to provide an alternative to the use of the private car that is convenient and cost effective, more sustainable, and that helps to reduce congestion.

EUROCITIES members’ innovative practices on introducing MaaS and multimodality

Helsinki Smart Region, Finland

Since 2016, Helsinki residents have been able to use an app called Whim to plan and pay for all modes of public and private transportation within the city - be it by train, taxi, bus, car share, or bike share. Anyone with the app can enter a destination, select his or her preferred method of travel (including multimodal options) and go. Users can either pre-pay for the service as part of a monthly mobility subscription, or pay as they go using a payment account linked to the service. The goal is to make it so convenient for users to get around that they opt to give up their personal vehicles for city commuting, not because they’re forced to, but because the alternative is more appealing.

Streaming services like Netflix have fundamentally changed the way people search for, consume, and pay for media. Transportation now stands on a similar frontier. Helsinki’s vision represents the next revolution in mobility: mobility as a service (MaaS). At its core, MaaS relies on a digital platform that integrates end-to-end trip planning, booking, electronic ticketing, and payment services across all modes of transportation, public or private. It’s a marked departure from where most cities are today, and from how mobility has been delivered until now. Rather than having to locate, book, and pay for each mode of transportation separately, MaaS platforms let users plan and book door-to-door trips using a single app. By answering the question of how best to get individual users where they’re going based on real-time conditions throughout the network, taking account of all the possible options and each user’s own preferences (for example, time and convenience vs. cost), and facilitating seamless mobile payment, MaaS starts to move us toward a more user-centered mobility paradigm.

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Urban traffic management and public transport in Turin, Italy

Turin developed a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) in 2011, which includes innovative technologies for mobility management among its main objectives. Turin is one of the first Italian municipalities to adopt ITS (Intelligent Transport System) in order to plan and develop transport services. A Traffic Management Centre in the metropolitan area of Turin has been established to provide these services.

Managed by 5T (Telematic Technologies for Transport and Traffic in Turin), the centre’s focus is multimodal, involving bus, tram, metro and suburban rail networks. The main functionalities provided by 5T are mobility supervision, traffic and access control, public transport information, information for citizens, VMS panels, and information regarding car parks.

Travellers have therefore access to a) real-time traffic data by routes (travel time, average speed and traffic conditions, street disruption warnings and webcam views; b) real-time information about public transport (door-to-door route planner, bulletin news); c) real-time parking info and availability of bikes in bike-sharing stalls; and d) e- government services. Furthermore, a multimodal regional trip planner (bus, train, ferries) called Pronto TPL is currently available. The next step will be to foster bike use and co- modality info services and to coordinate the different services so as to provide users with complete, door-to-door, co-modal, real-time service.

Sharing cities & smart city solutions for mobility in Bordeaux, France The Sharing Cities project aims to irreversibly change the way we think about the role of digital technology in our cities and to clarify how we all can benefit from and contribute to this transformative process. The project seeks to develop affordable, integrated, commercial-scale smart city solutions with a high market potential. Digital technology and open data are an indispensable part of building a multimodal transport system for future cities. Therefore several urban areas (including in London, Lisbon, Milan, Burgas, Warsaw and Bordeaux) have carried out test projects in sustainable mobility. The mobility measures included: electric car sharing, electric bike sharing, and developing electric charging infrastructure, smart parking and e-logistics.

E-car sharing: A private operator, Bolloré, launched the Bluecub in 2014, the first fully electric and open-access car sharing service in Bordeaux. The city permitted a temporary authorisation for the provider to occupy the territory to and provides energy for free. Today, Bluecub has over 70 stations in Bordeaux, Arcachon, and nine surrounding municipalities. It has a fleet of around 200 self-service electric cars and 250 charging stations. Under a partnership agreement with car manufacturer Renault, Bluecub also offers around 20 Twizys (compact urban EVs) for rent. Bluecub’s objective is to operate 80 stations. Since 2014, 3,300 people have registered on the e-car sharing system.

E-bike sharing: VCub, Bordeaux’s bike sharing service, owned and managed by Keolis, has 174 stations and more than 1,800 bikes. It does not offer e-bikes, since such a service was deemed too expensive during the talks on the public service delegation contract (the contract followed a public tender process, between Bordeaux and the company operating the public transport network on behalf of Bordeaux Metropolis).

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Smart parking: As part of the ALIENOR II programme, public transport information in real time (lines, timetables), as well as parking spaces and availability is displayed on panels located on the ring . Real time information about the availability of parking spaces in P+R and Parcub car parks in the vicinity is also provided in different locations. Several mobile phone applications also exist, such as parking-facile.com. This app enables drivers to geo-locate 500 parking spaces in 24 locations. It also informs users about transfer options to the public transport network. Since September 2014, Keolis Bordeaux has been using Qucit’s BikePredict API, which predicts VCub bike availability using open data. Qucit’s Citypark application is being tested in Bordeaux. This app will estimate the time required to find on-street parking near the driver’s destination. It will also show the number of spots available in parking lots best adapted to the pre-set criteria: price, distance, and search time. Those smart parking apps have been developed by start-ups.

E-vehicle charging Bordeaux Metropolis decided in 2015 to develop e-vehicle charging stations, there are now: • 30 fast charging points and 24 slow charging points at offices or technical services in Bordeaux Metropolis. • 10 public fast charging points • public car parks: 12 in Bordeaux, 2 in neighbouring municipalities • 6 ‘park and ride’ lots (parking lots with a public transport connection heading to the city centre) •14 charging points, and two fast charging points near town halls or technical services.

Bordeaux Metropolis subsidises the purchase of charging points (12.5% or 25%, in addition to government aid) by small businesses, companies and public institutions. It aims to extend the network of charging points to facilitate the use of electric vehicles.

Sources • http://www.dpp.cz/en/news/ • https://www.interregeurope.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/tx_tevprojects/library/5_P rague%20Travel%20Behaviour%20Surveys.pdf • https://www.busworld.org/articles/detail/3282/prague-shifting-to-electric-buses • https://guests.blogactiv.eu/2017/06/08/accessibility-of-public-transport-services- in-prague/ • https://www.helsinkismart.fi/about/about-helsinki-region/ • https://maas-alliance.eu/homepage/what-is-maas/ • http://www.5t.torino.it/en/1325/ • City of Prague / The Prague Public Transit Co. Inc. • Sharing Cities Project evaluation documents (Bordeaux)

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MOBILITY FORUM IN PRAGUE

MULTIMODAL CITIES

EUROCITIES mobility forum met in Prague on 23-25 April on “Multimodal cities: one vision, several strategies”. The event focused on public transport and took place in the context of 2018 as the European year of multimodality. More than 100 participants from 38 countries where present in the Czech capital for 2 days of learning and sharing.

The key messages from the debates were: New mobility services: Cities are facing a number of issues due to the development of new mobility services such as ride-sharing (UBER). Regulation of such services is challenging in many European countries. In Germany, for example, regulation depends on 3 different bodies – federal, regional and city administration. Finland has taken an interesting approach by eliminating the difference between taxis and UBER drivers, providing only one type of driver licence. This implies that drivers can operate both as official taxis and for Uber with the same licence. Smart deployment and integration of electric buses: Cities are dealing a number of challenges, including high cost of the bus and of the charging infrastructure; standardisation and interoperability, procurement, balancing the relationship between the energy and public transport operators and developing solid operational needs assessments to decide on most appropriate technologies. Ms Karine Sbirrazzuoli, UITP, advised on how to get ready for e-buses by applying the 4-step approach “If, When, What & How”: monitoring market and deciding on implementation, then planning and regulating, followed by selecting and procuring and finally operating and maintaining. Achieving modal shift to public transport: Free public transport doesn’t seem to be an effective long-term solution to reach an efficient and durable modal shift to public transport and ultimately better air quality. What really matters is an increased quality of public transport and reduced travel times, supported by a combination of other measures, including congesting charging. In Milan, since the introduction of the congestion charge in 2012, car traffic was reduced by 29.2% and road accidents decreased by 26%. In terms of impact on public transport: the speed increased by 2% and the number of users by 12%.

“Imagine the urban future” Members of the EUROCITIES mobility forum engaged in the on-going process of the “Future of EUROCITIES”, by reflecting on the structure, activities and service of the network. Kirsten Dunlop, Climate-KIC CEO, who delivered a keynote speech, defined mobility by its links to health, ageing, migration, speed of thought and information, social transformation (sharing, connecting, caring) and the future of work. Asking questions about future urban mobility is in fact asking questions about how we live in cities and what matters to us: sharing, exchanging or moving more efficiently. This echoed the words and examples from Amsterdam and Lille representatives presenting their cities plan for 2040-2050 for whom cities have to be clean comfortable, safe and personal, by giving back spaces to people.

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An example from our host city particularly grasped the attention of participants: Prague Integrated Transport Stops and Stations Design Manual. Public transport starts with the arrival of the passengers to the stop and not to the vehicle; this is the reason why it is crucial to put the focus on quality of stops and stations as well. The quality of a public transport stop is defined by its location, access to platform, layout of the signposts as well as its technical parameters (platform length, height, etc.) and there are some common rules for a high-quality stop: it should be straight, barrier-free and visible. On that background, Prague public transport operator launched the complex process of realising a manual for public transport stops and stations which complements the Prague Public Space Design Manual (http://manual.iprpraha.cz/en) aiming at making Prague a pedestrian—friendly city. After involving more than 35 partners and stakeholders over almost 3 years, the company recently published it and promoted it widely to citizens and local stakeholders, with an exhibition in the city hall. The manual has been widely credited for its quality and usefulness and it will be available shortly in English.

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