SmartMOVE & ReMOBIL – new projects that will have a great impact on the developement of sustainable mobility in our region
As part of the European Mobility Week, two new projects funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA) 2014-2021 were presented at today’s press conference. Both are introducing innovative and effective measures to limit negative environmental impacts resulting from unsustainable forms of mobility and the long-term development of sustainable mobility to the Ljubljana urban region and beyond.
Smart solutions for sustainable mobility
The SmartMOVE project (Smart solutions for sustainable mobility in Slovenia) addresses the management of sustainable mobility in locations with a lot of traffic in Ljubljana and its surroundings. As Klemen Gostič, head of the SmartMOVE project at RRA LUR pointed out, a number of measures will be implemented during the project – five mobility plans will be prepared for selected institutions, a new method of transport to work will be tested (dynamic shared transfer developed by the shuttle service GoOpti), a certificate for sustainable mobility will be established mainly by Jožef Stefan Institute as a project partner and strategic recommendations will be introduced to the authorities of Slovenia, accompanied by proposals for upgrading the existing Integrated Transport Strategy of the Ljubljana Urban Region.
One of the key activities is the formation of mobility plans for institutions. Among them are University Medical Centre Ljubljana and the BTC area, Studio Moderna d.o.o., and the protected area of the Ljubljana Marshes as an area of heritage. According to Klemen Milovanovič from the Ljubljana Urban Planning Institute (LUZ), the mobility plan is becoming part of the modern practice of regulating mobility in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It is a document that enables the active regulation of accessibility and optimization of parking by using measures that promote sustainable mobility and raise awareness of users, residents and employees in a positive way about the possibilities and effects of using different transport options, which also include dynamic group transport.
“GoOpti managed to offer a service so close to the experience of a personal vehicle, that when it comes to transfers to airports we managed to start changing habits. As many as 76% of our passengers would otherwise travel with their personal vehicle, but now leave it at home. With a personalized service that adapts to the actual needs of consumers, we have achieved the best approximation of the comfort of the personal vehicle. With high average vehicle occupancy, which is one of the key factors in reducing emissions, we ensure an extremely low carbon footprint per passenger kilometer. Through the project, we want to test this example of good practice for everyday use for reacing or leaving the workplace. For some time we have been thinking about how to adapt our algorithms that now apply to longer transfers a few times a year, all planned in advance, to everyday transport, which requires a great deal of flexibility”, emphasized Marko Guček, CEO of GoOpti. With the help of European funds provided by the project, they will be able to participate in the establishment and testing of models of dynamic passenger transport services on routes, deprived of satisfactory and direct public passenger traffic. They will get acquainted with the actual needs of the employees and find the most critical connections that do not have a good transport alternative, and offer daily transportation to and from work for a trial period. They are focusing mainly on connections between areas of Ljubljana, such as BTC or UKC, and the surroundings such as Domžale, Kamnik, Grosuplje etc.
The project is carried out in partnership with eight organizations. In addition to RRA LUR, which is the leading partner of the project, and the already mentioned LUZ, GoOpti and IJS, the Employers’ Association of Slovenia, IPoP – Institute for Spatial Policy, CER Partnership for a Sustainable Economy of Slovenia and the Norwegian research partner Nordland Institute.
Looking forward to Regional Mobility Centers
With the aim to connect all measures of sustainable mobility in the region as much as possible and enable an improved long term management of sustainable mobility, the ReMOBIL project (REGIONAL MOBILITY CENTERS) with the Soča Valley Development Agency as a leading partner will introduce a specific model of regional mobility management. As Matej Gojčič, deputy director for development and general affairs at RRA LUR pointed out, the model will be established on the basis of the transfer of good practices from abroad and tested in Slovenia in the Ljubljana urban region and five other regions – Gorenjska, Southern and Nothern Primorska, Podravska and Soča Valley region, where Regional Mobility Centers will be established. Among other outputs, the project will also offer an application that, upon entering the desired destination, will define different travel options and enable reservations for different transport systems, including sustainable ways of travel, which is being developed at AMZS.
Sebastijan Nograšek, head of sustainable development and digitization of AMZS: “At AMZS, when ensuring safe and carefree mobility, we always focus on people – on our members and customers. We already offer assistance and help to a driver, regardless of the means of transport he uses. In the future, we will be his partner in mobility, regardless of its form. With this aim, among other things, we are developing the NOMO (NEW MOBILITY) application. It will be a free, intuitive and user-friendly service that will enable simple and effective provision of an individual’s daily mobility needs. It puts users at the core of mobility services and offers them customized solutions based on individual needs and encourages them to use sustainable forms of mobility such as walking, cycling, using public passenger transport and other forms of sustainable mobility”.
The press conference was followed by a lively event by the name of PartyMOBIL, which was organized by RRA LUR for promoting current projects in the field of sustainable mobility. In addition to the new SmartMOVE and ReMOBIL projects, Sustourismo project, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint in tourism by bringing various options for sustainable travel to tourists was also presented, as well as LinkingAlps, which provides residents of Alpine countries, tourists, and especially daily migrants with a new mobile solution with up-to-date information for door-to-door cross-border travel with sustainable transport modalities.
As emphasized by Matej Gojčič, sustainable mobility has been one of the key priorities of the Regional developement agency LUR ever since its establishment: “With the professional basis for regulating public passenger traffic in the Ljubljana Urban Region, we laid the foundations for the development of sustainable mobility in the region, we continued with the P+R study , on the basis of which many transfer points were created. In addition to the six in Ljubljana, there are also seven municipalities in the region. The Integrated Transport Strategy of the Ljubljana Urban Region from 2018, which is expected to be amended shortly, is also of key importance. The results of the ReMOBIL and SmartMOVE projects, which started in May this year and will end at the end of April 2024, will make a significant contribution to the realization of the goals set.”
