How to promote eco-mobility in our cities

Ecomobility refers to the various methods of transportation that help reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption. Urban ecomobility is a great option for city dwellers looking for an alternative to commuting by car. Local and national governments are facing the challenge of finding a way of encouraging urban ecomobility so that people can have the opportunity to choose a more environmentally friendly method of transportation such as public transport or biking.

How do we encourage people to leave their car at home more often?

With the help of vouchers, people can be encouraged to use bikes instead of cars. In Italy, for example, the city of Pisa has implemented a voucher program based on points and rewards. People can accumulate points when they leave their car at home and opt for a bike ride or a walk, and the points can be redeemed in local shops.

The project has a total budget of over 800k Euros and over 40% of it is funded by the European Union's cohesion policy. Within one week of the launch of the app, 300 people registered. The target is to reach 5,000 and rank Pisa up as a bicycle-friendly city together with European capitals such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

Another way to promote ecomobility is by preventing bike theft. In many cities around the world, there are already initiatives that aim to prevent bike theft with various methods:

• Registering bicycles in a central database with photos and GPS location.
• Informing people about how to lock their bicycles properly and where the safest parking spots are.

Urban Ecomobility requires infrastructure

In order to encourage urban ecomobility, cities need infrastructure to make biking safer. This includes bike lanes, secure bike parking, secure parking facilities and traffic calming measures such as speed bumps and roundabouts.

Bike lanes are the most basic form of infrastructure that can be implemented. They are dedicated lanes for cyclists on roads and separated from other traffic by curbs, parked cars or posts. Bike lanes can also be designated as shared roadways where cyclists share the space with vehicles and pedestrians.

Bike parking is a critical component of urban ecomobility because it helps cyclists feel safe leaving their bikes unattended. The availability of secure parking facilities can help reduce theft and vandalism, which can discourage people from riding bikes in cities where they lack secure parking options. Secure bicycle parking facilities also help increase awareness of bicycle theft as well as promote responsible behavior among users through education campaigns that highlight common theft prevention strategies such as locking up properly and registering bicycles with police departments so that owners can be notified if their stolen bike turns up anywhere else in the city or surrounding areas.

Traffic calming measures help slow down drivers, making streets safer for cyclists who share roadways with motor vehicles, pedestrians and other cyclists alike.

New methods need to be implemented in order to promote new ways of urban ecomobility

A new generation of urban mobility solutions is being tested today, with new opportunities surfacing with the development of each. Carsharing has been around for a while, but it wasn't until recently that other methods came into play. People are still wary that bicycles aren't as safe as they need to be and car-sharing is gradually switching to fleets of electric vehicles. Improvements in technology have allowed for many new features, encouraging people to get involved more easily. Education and understanding will come with time, and there are yet many avenues that can be explored in order to encourage more people to start exploring more sustainable transportation options.

If you are interested in topics related to sustainable mobility, we recommend exploring the GECO EXPO platform, where you can hear from many experts and meet companies that have innovated this industry.