ACTIVITY 8.3: Agree priorities, responsibilities and timeline

GLOSSARY TERMS

By Tom Wood / Updated: 28 Nov 2019

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When a final set of actions has been selected and described, it is time to assign responsibilities, priorities and a schedule for implementation. A clear picture of prioritised actions and schedules and who is in charge of them is a cornerstone of every Sustainable Urban Mobility Planinfo-icon. This requires close coordination and discussion among all actors that will have a role in developing and implementing the actions.

 

Aims

  • Identify suitable priorities and responsibilities for implementation of the selected actions.

  • Assure that all actions are clearly prioritised and realistically deliverable.

  • Secure efficient and effective allocation of resources (human, knowledge, time).

  • Formalise the responsibility of all actors and the resourceinfo-icon contributions with the respective partners.

  • Provide a clear time horizon for action implementation.

  • Achieve formal agreement on responsibilities and timeline among decision makers and key stakeholders.

 

Tasks

  • Discuss the proposed actions and their priorities with the stakeholders who could play a role in financing, designing and implementing them. Make sure to involve other municipal departments in the discussions.

  • Identify options for who can take the lead in imple- menting an action. Consider abilities, strength and competences of the stakeholders. Sometimes having one party taking responsibility for a task might be the obvious way forward. In other cases, collaborative and interdisciplinaryinfo-icon work with different stakeholders might be a smarter solution.

  • Agree on clear responsibilities for each action of the measureinfo-icon packages. An action without a responsible party is likely not to be carried out.

  • Agree on a general timeline for the actions, where an approximate start and end of action implementation are defined. Focus on the next 2-3 years in your detailed planning, but also do outline planning for the next 10 years and be aware of actions requiring even longer-term implementation. (The detailed planning of actions for the next years should be revised and updated regularly, at least every 5 years.)

  • Consider related actions that could influence each other (see Activity 8.1). For example, a new Bus Rapid Transit line should be implemented after the completion of the necessary infrastructure (e.g. bus stops, bus lane); and controversial actions (e.g. congestion charging) should be implemented in a package with or preceded by popular ones (e.g. cheaper public transport tickets) to increase acceptability.

  • Consider large projects that are likely to impact the mobilityinfo-icon system in the city, e.g. a construction work like the opening of a new tram, or the implementation of congestion charging. Such projects often have an implementation time longer than the SUMP, they tie up planning capacities by requiring a complex implementation process including strategic environmental impact assessmentinfo-icon (SEA) and therefore strongly influence all other activities. Even ‘simple’ cycling projects can spend many years in legal challenges and processes.

  • Update the action table and factsheets (prepared in Activity 8.1) with newly agreed information.

  • Make timeline, responsibilities and allocation of resources public to ensure transparencyinfo-icon and information for citizens.

 

Activities beyond essential requirements

  • Assign a programme manager responsible for the coordination of action implementation, follow-up, and evaluationinfo-icon of the measures and the overall package (which could be the same person as the SUMP coordinator or an additional person to increase capacity). Defining a coordinator for actions helps to adapt or revise actions and develop new ones during the implementation phase. The coordinator has a comprehensive approach to the implemented actions and their cost-effectiveness and results, which provides valuable information for the further development of the mobility system in your city.

 

Timing and coordination

  • Builds upon the actions as defined in Activity 8.1 and 8.2. Provides the basis for all following Activities and forms a key part of the final SUMP.

 

Checklist

✔ Responsible lead implementers for all actions identified.
✔ Timeline and priorities agreed with stakeholders.
✔ Agreed actions published to inform the wider public.

 

Figure 35: Example of how to describe measures and measure packages in an action table (based on Mattson, C., 2018. SUMPs-Up Standards for developing a SUMP Action Planinfo-icon, p. 23.)

More info: 

GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLE: Thessaloniki, Greece

A Mobility Forum to agree on responsibilities for actions

After the adoption of the SUMP in 2014, the stakeholders involved in the implementation met in the Mobility Forum, which acted as a SUMP assembly. The Mobility Forum met for the first time in 2016 with the aim of presenting the progress of the various measures and discussing and identifying the way forward with all participants. Responsibilities were allocated, firstly according to jurisdiction and law provision and secondly according to the skills and capacity of organisations. The success of this informal Mobility Forum relied on the good will of participants. Therefore, Thessaloniki authorities advise to use a more binding framework to sustain the decisions for action planning.
 
Author: Samuel Salem, TheTA Thessaloniki, collected by Polis