The EU recognises that urban transport plays a fundamental role in meeting the objectives of economic competitiveness, social cohesion and sustainable growth. In accordance with the subsidiarity principle, the EU is supporting local governments in tackling mobility issues which form common patterns across Europe.

The Reference Framework for European Sustainable Cities (RFSC) is an online toolkit designed to help cities promote and enhance their work on integrated sustainable urban development. With regards to urban mobility, the multi-purpose decision-making and communication tool can help to ensure an integrated approach and assess the current situation. The RFSC tool is not place-specific and can be adapted to suit local priorities.

For more information, visit rfsc-community.eu

The United Nations has identified sustainable transport as one of the main themes of sustainable development. Urgent action is required to develop more sustainable urban transport systems which address the twin challenges of rising congestion and pollution. To accomplish this, stakeholders including all levels of government and operators of public transport, roads, rail, aviation and marine transport must play their part.

Measuring the performance of an urban transport system is important for establishing measures and policies for improving its quality. This is particularly important in terms of improving the energy efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of transport.

Fewer and fewer children now play on the streets outside their houses, partly due to increased traffic. As many communities lack safe areas for children to play, run and cycle, this is having a negative impact on children's ability to make and maintain social contact and limits their opportunity to exercise.

The Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology has published a handbook of measures that can be employed to increase bicycle use. Individual measures are assessed in terms of cost, effort, impact and public acceptance. The document is only available in German.

See below to download the document.

Photo by ahans / CC BY-NC-SA