Multimodality to transform cities

European Mobility Week is here again. This continental event, which began in 2002, seeks to improve public health and quality of life by promoting clean mobility and sustainable urban transport.

Like every year, European Mobility Week is devoted to a specific issue. This year, the theme is “Multimodality: Mix and move!” The organisers explain that their aim is to showcase the different methods we have for getting around, and multimodality is the combination of transport methods within a single journey or for different types of journeys.

Sustainable mobility is expanding

Thus, during European Mobility Week, it is worth recalling the numerous and growing alternatives for travel available in cities.

From public transport to bicycles to vehicle sharing. All new formulas for transport try to improve air quality since, as the World Health Organisation has declared, 9 out of 10 people on the planet breathe polluted air on a daily basis, especially in urban settings.

Embracing the concept of multimodality means rethinking how we move around our cities and a willingness to try new forms of sustainable mobility, but for these initiatives to be fully implemented governments must get involved.

For several years now studies have been conducted to search for mobility alternatives that are less contaminating for cities, and many now have diverse measures in place.

These measures often focus on fostering the use of sustainable public transport (increasing the frequency and number of electric vehicles), bicycle use (such as offering free use of bicycles during a certain introductory period - an initiative in Dublin), electric vehicle sharing (renting shared electric motorcycles and cars), and even expanding pedestrian zones in major cities in order to restrict vehicle access and create new public spaces for interaction.

In any case, European Mobility Week reminds us of the need to keep in mind the negative consequences of the irrational use of cars in the city, in terms of both public health and the environment, as well as the benefits of using more sustainable methods of transportation.

Sources: European Mobility Week and Organización Mundial de la Salud.