SUMBA+

SUMBA+ helped city planners and authorities boost sustainable mobility in urban areas.

Project summary

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.

SUMBA+ addressed the challenge of car-based commuter traffic causing among others congestion, high greenhouse gas and air pollution in cities. The project supported the implementation of commuting master plans developed by its forerunner SUMBA project into practice.

Budgets

SUMBA+
in numbers

0.83

Million

Total
0.67

Million

Erdf
0.00

Million

Eni + Russia
0.00

Million

Norway

Achievements

The SUMBA+ project studied and tested measures that facilitate intermodal and sustainable commuting. The measures include mobility hubs, circulation plans, bicycle library, digital means of communicating transport strategies and modal share measurements.

Partners expanded their capacity to work with transport models, including integrated emissions analysis, to evaluate measures prior to implementation.

The bicycle library concept was developed and got various manifestations in three partner cities: Växjö, Tartu and Hamburg Altona. Experiences and lessons from the concept were communicated at various events and served as a basis for so-called “Bicycle library cookbook” that helps other cities to learn and implement a similar concept.

Mobility hubs, an important measure and mobility tool from the SUMBA main project, was examined in several different analyses in four partner cities and regions including Hamburg Altona, Riga Planning Region, Tallinn and Harju County, and Växjö municipality.

Lastly, a dissemination toolkit was created to provide project partners resources that help communicate project activities and outputs including film, document and communication templates as well as abstracts for conferences.

Outputs

Recommendations and proposals for measures to improve the accessibility to mobility hubs

The reports are developed in collaboration with respective local or regional authorities, specifically Riga Planning Region, Hamburg Altona and Tallinn-Harju. The recommendations should mostly serve the authorities in taking the next steps to develop sustainable transport concepts. An exception is the report of Hamburg Altona: as a rather novel approach, it can also help planners of other cities understand how to go about the idea of developing or transforming an area into a noise-reduced area. Check the city cases: Tallinn city region, Riga metropolitan area and Hamburg Altona.

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Report on the implementation of CMPs and recommendations for future work

The report describes key aspects of the CMPs (commuting master plans) of each pilot region including the outcome of the CMP monitoring. The report is for municipal staff in cities interested in the CMP methodology. Municipal staff can use the report as inspiration: how did other cities develop their CMPs? Which measures did they identify and implement? Which obstacles or promoting factors did they identify? NGOs and scientific institutions can draw conclusions from the report regarding how the instrument “CMP” works and if elements can be used in the future when making e.g. recommendations to policymakers or when developing other concepts and tools, taking useful elements from the CMP approach.

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Cycling library cookbook

“Bicycle library cookbook“ is a 24-page booklet written in a cookbook style, which describes the key ingredients necessary for an interested municipality to develop a cycling library of its own. Followed by the case descriptions of Växjö, Tartu and Hamburg Altona, the report finishes with a few additional tips for starters.

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Report on GHG emissions in transport modelling

The report summarises essential background information on the determination of transport-related CO2 emissions with the help of transport models. It also presents the approach and results for the two case studies of the city of Växjö and the urban area of Riga. The results of the report are aimed to enable urban and transport planners to make further steps in the implementation of the Circulation plan as well as the mobility hubs.

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