SOLUTIONS

The SOLUTIONS Network

The SOLUTIONS project has laid the groundwork for a transition into a network – to keep alive the valuable collaborations on sustainable urban mobility it has created and help deliver on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the New Urban Agenda.
The new SOLUTIONS Network will broaden the original project’s partnerships by inviting additional organisations that are working on implementing sustainable urban mobility actions across the world.

About the SOLUTIONS project

SOLUTIONS aims to support the exchange on innovative and green urban mobility solutions between cities from Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean. The project brings together a wealth of experience and technical knowledge from international organisations, consultants, cities, and experts involved in transport issues and solutions.
The project’s overall objective is to make a substantial contribution to the uptake of innovative and green urban mobility solutions across the world by facilitating dialogue and exchange, promoting successful policy, providing guidance and tailored advice to city officials, and fostering future cooperation on research, development and innovation. The activities are organised around six themes:

public transport
transport infrastructure
city logistics
integrated planning / sustainable urban mobility plans
network and mobility management
clean vehicles

SOLUTIONS in brief

Transport is a key enabler of economic activity and social connectivity. While providing essential services to society, transport is also an important part of the economy and it is at the core of a number of major sustainability challenges, such as climate change, air quality, safety, energy, security and efficiency in the use of resources (EC 2011: Transport White Paper).

The overall mission of SOLUTIONS is to support the up-take of innovative sustainable urban mobility solutions in Europe and other regions in the world, in particular in Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean. SOLUTIONS aims to bridge the “implementation gap” between the potential of innovative sustainable mobility and transport solutions and packages of solutions and the actual level of up-take and quality of the deployment mechanisms. SOLUTIONS will focus on testing the transferability of innovative sustainable mobility solutions around six thematic clusters, summarised on the right. SOLUTIONS as coordinating action will build strongly on previous and on-going projects and initiatives.
SOLUTIONS stands for Sharing Opportunities for Low carbon Urban transporTatION. This coordination and support action project is financed under the FP7 programme theme SST.2013.3-2 (Implementing innovative and green urban transport solutions in Europe and beyond).

SOLUTIONS' overall objective is to make a substantial contribution to the uptake of innovative sustainable mobility solutions in cities across the world by:

Facilitating dialogue and creating networking opportunities, and sharing experience
Promoting successful urban policy solutions from around the world
Providing guidance and tailored advice to city officials through several regional analyses
Fostering future cooperation on research, development and implementation

Key actions

Assess the transferability of sustainable urban mobility solutions from Europe, Asia and Latin America
Assess the potential for uptake in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean and develop recommendations for future research
Foster the implementation of sustainable urban mobility solutions in China, India, Brasil and Mexico

Key project results

Stocktake report on sustainable urban mobility solutions from Europe, Asia, Latin America
Feasibility studies for four cities in China, India, Mexico and Brazil
Guidelines on the uptake of innovative sustainable urban mobility solutions and technologies in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean
Recommendations for the European Commission on future research opportunities

SOLUTIONS products

This section include SOLUTIONS products prepared. Only public documents will be available for download, but deliverables will be listed as a reference with a short description to give an indication of the contents of the deliverable.
Projects outputs include:

Stocktake report on sustainable urban mobility solutions from Europe, Asia, Latin America:
Focusing primarily on policy and the regional policy environment,
Feasibility studies for four cities in China, India, Mexico and Brasil,
Guidelines on the uptake of innovative sustainable urban mobility solutions and technologies in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Mediterranean,
Recommendations for the European Commission on future research opportunities.

Online consulting tool
The SOLUTIONS online consulting tool aims to efficiently guide urban transport professionals into the innovative and green urban mobility solutions that were investigated within the project, facilitating the identification of those fitting best their interests and needs. More specifically, urban transport professionals and policy makers can select the thematic cluster they are interested in and get a comprehensive overview of the respective solutions.

Recommendation on EU-China Cooperation
Report on the EU-China Green Urban Mobility workshop: “Towards Innovative Joint Solutions for Common Urbanisation Challenges”. The workshop identified areas for EU - China cooperation and discussed matters concerned with the transferability of these measures between the jurisdictions, and research frameworks under which future cooperation could be organised. A number of SOLUTIONS consortium members invited to join the EU-China workshop to contribute to the sustainable urban mobility session.

All SOLUTIONS Webinars are available in the CIVITAS Learning Centre.

Knowledge Sharing Kit
Cluster 1 / Cluster 2 / Cluster 3 / Cluster 4 / Cluster 5 / Cluster 6
The knowledge sharing kit provides basic information on the objectives and implementation of selected solutions, per cluster, aimed at transport professionals in take-up cities or other interested transport experts.

Training Kit
Cluster 1 /Cluster 2 / Cluster 3 / Cluster 4 / Cluster 5 / Cluster 6
The training kit provides basic capacity-building activities for professionals in the take-up cities and support in accessing existing capacity building programmes. This kit assembles existing training materials and approaches, re-orienting these towards the thematic clusters and adapting them to the training needs of the take-up candidates.

Transferability analysis: innovative sustainable urban solutions from Europe, Singapore, China and Latin America
To undertake a transfer process between EU cities and cities around the world, a methodological framework has been developed in SOLUTIONS that defines the conditions for a successful transfer while identifying the limits of each transfer case (transfer barriers).This document includes a transferability analysis methodology that has been produced from a desktop study of previous methodologies, which was then further improved through a review process. Within the SOLUTIONS project, this document will provide guidance to analyse success factors and barriers for transfer of the innovative solutions between the Leading Cities and the Take Up cities.

Joint Recommendations on Policy for Future Research Agenda for Cooperation with Mediterranean Partner countries
Based on the assessment of city needs and the identification of current gaps in MPCs, this document provides some recommendations on behalf of the SOLUTIONS and the VIAJEO Plus projects, for future research with the aim to improve cooperation with the Mediterranean Partners Countries in order to encourage MPCs to adopt sustainable urban transport solutions in the near future.

Assessment of city needs and gap analysis
This deliverable presents and analyzes the framework conditions of different Mediterranean cities and identifies their existing needs, gaps and priorities with regard to urban transport mobility solutions. The aim is to build a common understanding of the current conditions in the Mediterranean region and conduct a preliminary assessment of selected solutions, based on identified needs, within the context of four thematic clusters: Public transport, Transport infrastructure, City logistics and Integrated planning/Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs).

SOLUTIONS in the Mediterranean
This report addresses the urban mobility needs, policy barriers and the uptake of sustainable solutions in Mediterranean partner countries. It presents the key findings from the assessment of urban mobility conditions in the selected MPCs and, in more detail, in Israel, Morocco and Turkey

SOLUTIONS in Latin America
This report addresses the urban mobility needs, policy barriers and the uptake of sustainable solutions in Latin American partner countries. It presents the key findings from the assessment of urban mobility conditions in Brazil and Mexico.

SOLUTIONS in Asia
This report addresses the urban mobility needs, policy barriers and the uptake of sustainable solutions in Asian partner countries. It presents the key findings from the assessment of urban mobility conditions in China and India.

SOLUTION - 6 Cluster: Knowledge Sharing Kit & Training Kit

Cluster 1: Public Transport

In the face of urban traffic congestion, traffic pollution, carbon emissions and high energy consumption, more and more cities turn to public transport. Under the condition of limited urban space and increasing urban population in cities in emerging countries, optimisation of public transport becomes important. SOLUTIONS will focus on tested public transport solutions related to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Asia and Latin America, trolley buses in Europe, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) in Singapore and public transport operations. More background information and specific solutions.
Knowledge Sharing Kit Cluster 1
Training Kit Cluster 1
Related projects: EBSF, NICHES, TIDE

Cluster 2: Transport Infrastructures

SOLUTIONS will focus on infrastructure for public transport (tramways, bus lanes, passenger waiting and boarding areas), infrastructure for soft modes (e.g. cycle routes, pedestrian facilities) and infrastructure for urban freight systems. Quality passenger transport is highly dependent on improved infrastructure whilst continued efficient operations are reliant on adequate and timely maintenance. This element will also include better sharing of road-space between guided vehicles (e.g. trams and guided buses) and bus lanes as well as separate dedicated public transport routes. With respect to walking and cycling, easy substitutes for trips of less than 5 kilometers, improvements in infrastructure quality and safety, design of cycle ways and pavements, parking spaces for bicycles, and more will be addressed. Freight transport infrastructure issues to be considered will include loading areas, appropriate access control including signage as well as other measures to improve productivity with reduced disruption.
Knowledge Sharing Kit Cluster 2
Training Kit Cluster 2
Related projects: SIMBA, SIMBA II

Cluster 3: City Logistics

The main point to address in ‘city logistics’ is how to respond to freight requirements while decreasing environmental and social impacts. The ultimate goal being to decrease the flows of commercial road vehicles without increasing other flows like consumer car flows, to decrease commercial vehicles’ emissions and to prevent traffic congestion caused by vans and lorries double-parking during delivery. SOLUTIONS will look at policy options for public authorities to achieve these goals, including regulations (traffic restriction, low emissions zones), transport pricing and taxes, transport planning and the development of infrastructure dedicated to urban freight (lorry lanes, delivery and loading spaces, urban consolidation centres). Public authorities and private operators, both of whom have an interest in improving their vehicle fuel efficiency, consolidating of urban freight, and improving the efficiency of deliveries, have to work together to define the best urban freight schemes. More background information and specific solutions.
Knowledge Sharing Kit Cluster 3
Training Kit Cluster 3
Related projects: BESTUFS, SUGAR, TURBLO

Cluster 4: Integrated Planning/Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans

Sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) aims to support local authorities to plan and manage urban mobility more efficiently and fairly. With a focus on people, accessibility for all sectors of society and quality of life, this new planning paradigm is interdisciplinary and looks beyond geographical and institutional boundaries. This can be achieved by considering the local circumstances and needs and involving a wide range of stakeholders and the engagement of citizens in the decision making and planning process. In SOLUTIONS, leading cities will transfer their knowledge and experiences to take-up cities world-wide. For example, SOLUTIONS partner EMBARQ has already started to ‘tropicalize’ the EU guidelines for the Brazilian context, where sustainable urban mobility planning has become mandatory for cities. SOLUTIONS will provide take-up cities with practical experiences, training activities, study tours and practical exchange. The aim is to enable cities to start and implement SUMPs according to their local circumstances and to assist cities to make their cities economically robust, improve their environmental conditions and the make the city a liveable place for all citizens. More background information and specific solutions.
Knowledge Sharing Kit Cluster 4
Training Kit Cluster 4
Related projects: Eltis, TIDE

Cluster 5: Network and Mobility Management

When addressing network and mobility management, SOLUTIONS will tackle various intelligent transport systems (ITS) technologies and communication technologies applied to transport. This include cooperative systems, transport and traffic management, congestion management, tolling and charging, public transport information systems and other public and individual user technologies. The goal of all these applications being to ensure seamless connectivity, flexible travel, lower environmental impact and support of multimodal mobility patterns and lifestyles. The measures and solutions examined will be those that make the best use of the available resources and help plan and implement additions to the infrastructure network with a focus on the current and future mobility needs. It is important to ensure that mobility is not restricted but rather carried out in an intelligent manner while considering all advantages and disadvantages of different modes and how they can contribute to a sustainable mobility network. More background information and specific solutions.
Knowledge Sharing Kit Cluster 5
Training Kit Cluster 5
Related projects: SIMBA, VIAJEO, STADIUM, NICHES/NICHES+

Cluster 6: Clean Vehicles

SOLUTIONS will look at clean vehicles to consider readily available fuels, technologies, and energy-efficient options that offer substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions potential. The suitability of different option of clean vehicle technology depends not only on the local circumstances, but also on the national framework. The measures and solutions selected will cover a spectrum of technology options and vehicle categories to offer clean vehicle solutions to the variety of cities in the different regions. Important considerations will be the prerequisites for the application of different technologies and fuels, their feasibility in the local framework and the side effects that might be associated with their application. By building on experiences gained by other cities as fostered in the SOLUTIONS project, municipalities can reduce the risk of implementating clean vehicle technology, by determining potential investment costs and possible side effects. With regards to CO2 emitted by energy consumption, SOLUTIONS will take into account the full life cycle and Well-to-Wheel phase to ensure sustainability of the solutions suggested. More background information and specific solutions.
Knowledge Sharing Kit Cluster 6
Training Kit Cluster 6
Related projects: NICHES/NICHES+, TIDE, European Green Cars Initiativ

​About the SOLUTIONS project