SUMBA

By developing master plans on commuting for nine municipalities in five Baltic Sea region countries, the Interreg project SUMBA paved a way for sustainable and greener transport transformation in the region.

The challenge

Tackling emissions in transport

Commuting by car from suburbs to metropolitan areas is the most common way observed in the identified areas in the Baltic Sea region. While the citizens are trying to find the most optimal and convenient way of commuting, the cities are struggling with increasing emissions and climate change mitigation. Climate mitigation is impossible without including transport solutions and finding new ways of tackling emissions.

On this background, an alternative combination of various transport modes, including bike and car sharing, would help the cities to reach the wishful targets and introduce an environmentally friendly commuting system.

A clear policy framework needed

In order to ensure the durability of sustainable solutions, the cities would need to integrate alternative mobility options in transport plans and policies. A better understanding of actions needed in policy implementation and who should be involved in the transformation process is needed.

The project SUMBA provided a platform for piloting measures which would give clarity on the process and justification of the tested transport solutions.

Budgets

SUMBA
in numbers

3.14

Million

Total
2.53

Million

Erdf
0.00

Million

Eni + Russia
0.00

Million

Norway

Achievements

Master plans developed

The SUMBA project successfully developed commuting master plans for 9 functional areas in the Baltic Sea region, specifically in Hamburg-Altona, Växjö, Tallinn/Harju, Tartu, Riga, Šiauliai, Olsztyn, Warsaw donut, Gdynia. These plans aim at improving commuting conditions between the central cities and their suburbs. By bringing transport planners and policymakers together, the project integrated the master plans into the partner cities’ policies and transport planning. This allowed the cities to make local transport more environmentally friendly and tackle emissions in a coordinated way.

A toolbox for planning and analytics provided

The SUMBA project provided the tools aimed at supporting cities in developing better commuting conditions. In the toolbox, the users can find the guidance for transport modelling and data collection. The guidance for modelling complies the available transport models as well as planning support tools. Thanks to the guidance cities can choose the right web-based application for their needs.

Furthermore, the toolbox contains an Intermodalyzer index measuring a level of inter-modality, or how well intermodal the transport system of a city is. The index is useful for municipal planners and transport non-governmental organisations to assess the transport situation.

The Interreg project SUMBA used EURO 2.94 million from European Union to support the cities in the Baltic Sea region in sustainable transport transformation and make the cities environmentally friendly.

Outputs

Intermodalyzer - a Benchmarking Scheme to assess the City's Transport System with regard to Intermodality

The “Intermodalyzer index” measures how intermodal a city or functional urban area is. The index is described in a methodological report that enables municipal planners as well as transport non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to evaluate the transport situation.

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Guidance for transport modelling and data collection

The guidance for modelling describes how transport modelling tools work. In addition, it describes the available commercial and free transport models as well as planning support tools. The guidance explains the features of the respective programmes and possible uses of the software. In this way the guidance helps cities to choose the right application for their needs.

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Template for commuting masterplans

The “template for commuting masterplans” explains the steps to be taken to develop a commuting masterplan for a functional urban area, i.e. the core city and its surrounding area. It is a supportive document for regional and urban planners in municipal administrations.

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