A lesson in co-operation

During the last four years, the cities of Aalborg, Bremen, Bristol, Kaunas and Nantes, supported by a total of 15 partners including public transport operators, transport organisations, utilities, academic institutions and consultants, have been working together on the European Commission supported VIVALDI project. The project forms part of the CIVITAS initiative, which aims to achieve real changes in urban transport through the combination of innovative technology, infrastructure and policy based instruments.

The VIVALDI project sets out to meet the challenges of the CIVITAS initiative and European policy through four key urban policy goals of sustainability, social inclusion, economic vitality and the health and well being of citizens. The VIVALDI project has resulted in the implementation and evaluation of a broad range of innovative transport schemes. Highlights include the introduction of more than 450 new clean fuel buses and other vehicles; the widescale deployment of intelligent transport systems to support public transport in Aalborg; the growth in car sharing to 3,500 members integrated with public transport in Bremen; the groundbreaking urban freight consolidation scheme in Bristol, which has reduced delivery trips for the 51 participating retailers by 68%; a new public transport planning and information system, which has increased ridership (from an impressive base) by 3% in Kaunas; and creating travel plans involving more than 17,000 employees in Nantes.

Aside from the new and improved transport systems and services across the partner cities, one of the most important lessons learnt through VIVALDI is that the involvement of local politicians is vital for successful implementation of innovative transport measures. The project convened a regular Political Advisory Board, which brought politicians together from the five cities so that they could share their experiences and support each other in the promotion of cutting edge schemes.

Other key recommendations to emerge from the work of the project during the last four years include the importance of involving key stakeholders and the need for a good communication plan to raise awareness and promote the new services, integrating these new innovative measures into the transport planning strategies in the five cities. The importance of strong local government with a clear vision on sustainable transport can also not be underestimated.

The VIVALDI project draws to a close in January 2006, and it will be the 17 cities participating in the second round of demonstration projects with €50million of CIVITAS co-financing by the EC, who we hope will build upon our work.We believe the experiences from the VIVALDI project will provide some useful examples of best practice to assist these new projects, and the lessons learnt and in some cases the challenges faced will assist in the smooth implementation of their schemes.

As for the VIVALDI cities, the project has built upon existing relationships between the partners and forged new ones, which we hope will carry forward.A positive example is the technical and political exchanges which have taken place between Bremen and Nantes focusing on car sharing and cycling policies, highlighting the strengths which can be derived by like minded cities working at the European level. The partners aim to build on these relationships to continue to work together through other initiatives to promote clean and sustainable urban transport.