1. Topic

2. Introduction

Mobility Management (MM) is primarily a demand-oriented approach to passenger and freight transport that involves new partnerships and a set of tools. Its aim is to support and encourage a change of attitude and behaviour in favour of sustainable modes of transport. The tools of MM are based on information, communication, organisation, and coordination and require promotion.

3. Discussion

In recent years there has been much concern about society’s ever increasing reliance on the private car, the associated costs in terms of congestion, pollution and safety, and the effect this has on those without access to a car. This concern has contributed to the development of several new approaches to transport planning – mobility management being one of them – which are aimed at encouraging and developing a more sustainable transport policy. The great challenge for the future is to safeguard our mobility and our economic development, while controlling demand for transport and maintaining or even improving quality of life.

This new task calls for creative and innovative solutions. In order to really tackle the problems, we need approaches, which do not simply rely on building new roads or introducing high levels of technology. In fact, besides these ‘hardware’ measures there is an urgent need for more ‘software’ measures that provide a whole range of services to address users’ needs and to convince them to change travel habits.

The aim of mobility management is to ensure the fulfilment of mobility needs of different target groups in a socially, environmentally and economically sound way, for both passenger and freight transport. Unlike other approaches, mobility management is not about building new roads or making existing car traffic flows more smoothly. On the contrary, mobility management aims to facilitate a change in travel choice towards more sustainable means of transport. Mobility management initiatives can be taken at a site level, where large volumes of road traffic are generated or attracted (e.g. work sites, schools, shopping centres, large leisure facilities etc.) or at a city or regional level (e.g. by introducing a mobility centre in a city). Co-operation and partnership building – among authorities, transport providers, site owners, etc. – is always a key element in mobility management.

4. Recommendation / Conclusion

Convincing people to make other travel choices requires more than a rational approach. It must take account of people’s differing needs and expectations. As such a number of services have been developed under mobility management:

· Information and advice, e.g. door-to-door public transport information, bicycle map

· Consulting, e.g. company related mobility and transport plans designed by the so called ‘mobility managers’

· Awareness and education, e.g. mobility education in schools, car free day

· Transport organisation and co-ordination, e.g. car pool matching service, car sharing

· Sales & reservation, sale of public transport tickets, reservations of bike and car rentals

· Transport related products and services, e.g. all-in-one ticket for events, financial bonus for users of sustainable transport modes

“MOST”, a large-scale European project on mobility management has produced useful guidelines for the introduction and evaluation of mobility management in different contexts. They have made an inventory of Institutional and Organisation Frameworks for the Design and Implementation of Mobility Management in Europe, they provide a toolkit for the implementation of mobility management services and they have developed a methodology for monitoring and evaluating different measures.

5. Examples / Further Reading

London Borough of Camden - Mobility management, Mobility Management in Rotterdam and Mobility Management in Lund are examples provided by ACCESS and related to the cities of, Rotterdam, Lund and Malmö

Mobility Management in the City of Malmö

The potential of Mobility Management.6

Further Examples:

6. Additional Documents / Web Links

· European Platform on Mobility Management: EPOMM is the reference point for all interested actors in mobility management. It aims to promote and further develop mobility management in Europe and wants to fine-tune its implementation between European countries: http://www.epomm.org/

· MOST, which stands for Mobility Management Strategies for the Next Decades, has explored the potential of mobility management in different contexts such as education, tourism, health institutions, site development, mobility centres, and temporary sites: http://mo.st/

· The European project TAPESTRY is developing guidelines for setting up successful awareness raising initiatives on sustainable transport. They also provide an assessment framework: http://www.eu-tapestry.org/

· Examples of successful campaigns are the European Mobility Week and the International Car Free Day, known as ‘”In town without my car!”: http://www.mobilityweek-europe.org/

Last Updated

25th January 2005