The actions are the most concrete part of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan
. They directly affect local residents and are therefore usually the most controversial aspects of the process. For example, while it may be agreed easily that an active cycling policy is good for the city (i.e. on the strategic level), and a cycling infrastructure in a certain corridor is supported by a majority (i.e. on the measure level), the specific actions planned by the department in charge of construction (e.g. conversion of roadside parking in a certain street to create a cycling lane) may create controversy. To facilitate effective implementation of actions later on, it is therefore important to ensure wide political and public support throughout measure and action planning - and well before SUMP adoption. After involving citizens in the development of measures and measure packages (see Activity 7.1 and 7.2), the planned actions should be at a very minimum communicated publicly, giving citizens and stakeholders the opportunity to provide feedback before final decisions are taken. Ideally, they get actively involved in the agreement of actions and feel it is ‘their’ SUMP with ‘their’ measures and actions, and understand its role in improving mobility and quality of life for everyone.
Aims
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Ensure ownership and high acceptance of your planned actions among decision makers, citizens and other stakeholders.
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Provide transparency around planned actions.
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Facilitate adoption of the SUMP and effective implementation of actions later on.
Tasks
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Communicate in a transparent and professional way the main elements of the SUMP, in particular the planned actions.
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Actively inform and get feedback from decision makers. Consider organizing a dedicated information session in the local council well ahead of the official process to adopt the SUMP. Direct conversations with key decision makers, such as mayors and the heads of larger political parties, can also give you important information on how to widen the political support and facilitate adoption.
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Actively involve and get feedback from important stakeholders, for example in a meeting of the SUMP ‘steering group’.
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Actively involve and get feedback from citizens on actions, for example in the form of a public debate evening (see Figure 14 on tools and methods for citizen engagement).
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Make the main elements of the SUMP, including its most important actions, a topic in the local media. When communicating the actions, emphasise the positive change they contribute to and their role in the SUMP. If possible, use quantifiable evidence of expected benefits and attractive visual elements, such as before-after pictures from other cities. A common risk is that only those negatively affected get active. Specific communication efforts are therefore recommended to also activate those that benefit among the general public.
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Be clear at all times about what a local authority can realistically do and what it cannot (expectation management).
Activities beyond essential requirements
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When facing strong political objections, for example in the case of government change during SUMP development, emphasise the benefits and the time and resources already invested in the SUMP. The analogy of a bridge can help to communicate this point: Just as a bridge started by one government is usually continued by the next one, also a SUMP should be, because it is a costly long-term project serving the city as a whole.
Timing and coordination
Checklist
✔ Public relations and involvement activities planned and carried out.
✔ Information and opportunity for feedback provided to decision makers, citizens and other stakeholders and provided feedback considered for agreement of actions.
For some types of actions, gaining wide public acceptance can be especially challenging. Parking is such a topic that various road users tend to have strong opinions on (e.g. residents, visitors, logistics companies). The challenge for local authorities is increased as these user groups do not share the same expectations and needs towards the parking system in terms of costs, availability and capacity. Therefore, public acceptance is a major challenge and the only feasible way to get people to accept new parking management measures is to show them that “it will get better”. Be very clear about how the measures work and how much – if anything – people will have to pay and explain what any new parking revenues will be used for. Helpful tools and further guidance can be found in the Practitioner Briefing Parking and Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning.
