Contribution to the consultation on the Green Paper on Mobility. Produced by the "Cities 2.0" Programme (Fing, Chronos, Tactis), in association with Acidd, agora energy and Villes Internet

ABSTRACT (English)

The following contribution (full content in French) to the European Commission's consultation process following the publication of the Green Paper on Urban Mobility, is based on the results of the "Villes 2.0" (Cities 2.0) Programme led by France's Next-Generation Internet Foundation (Fing).. Since 2006, this programme has gathered large and small corporations, regions and cities, researchers, innovators and activists, in order to explore how technologies transform urban life, as well as how urban life shapes technologies.

Under the heading "Free and sustainable mobility", one of Villes 2.0's four "Grand challenges", we have looked at how highly ambitious goals in terms of sustainable urban mobility can be achieved without limiting individual mobility. Our focus is therefore on innovation (be it technical, organisational, service- or usage-based) in order to provide individuals with new mobility options which are practical, desirable as well as sustainable.

Urban mobility is not just a constraint or a problem: It is an historic (and for many, unfinished) conquest, as well as an essential component of contemporary urban experience. Therefore, policies which could be perceived as trying to restrict individual mobility will be very difficult to enact and enforce. Making urban mobility sustainable requires a natural, fluid integration of environmental considerations in the daily decision processes of individuals as well as organisations. It requires a change in the design and the "production function" of many urban amenities: Transports, but also places and their functions, services and their articulations rhythms and their orchestration...

We therefore suggest that the European Commission and all those stakeholders interested in sustainable urban mobility, place more emphasis on 3 areas of action which could efficiently complement those already present in the Green Paper:

• Involve citizens in the elaboration, the daily execution and the evaluation of sustainability policies, in particular:
• By involving citizens in the measurement of pollution, emissions, noise, etc.;
• By finding ways to transform the measurement of one's "ecological footprint" from an awareness tool into a metric of everyday life ("Eco-gotchi");
• By providing information and training on both mobility (its tools, methods and means) and sustainability.

• The "First substitution": reduce the number of trips as well as their length, without reducing the benefits associated to mobility
• Despite disappointing results in the past, revisit the potential for "e-Substitution" (the substitution of physical movement by distant interactions and/or automation), as well as its limitations;
• Better articulate transports, but also urban space as well as rhythms and services. More efficient and timely use of available space, more coordinated scheduling of services, easier service aggregation to fulfil user needs, can all significantly contribute to remove reasons for constrained mobility.

• The "Second substitution": Develop the use of collective and/or non-polluting means of transportation without limiting the freedom and spontaneity of individual movement
• Develop and promote an open "Information layer" for all mobility systems, intended as a platform for interoperability, as well as for all kinds of bottom-up, commercial and non commercial innovations;
• Develop information-based urban transports, such as car-sharing, ride-sharing, etc.
• Enhance the quality of experience and the level of service provided by collective and/or non-polluting means of transportation

Finally, there are 4 conditions for the success of such an approach, which places a high emphasis on decentralised and nontechnical innovation:

• Solicit, welcome, recognise and value constant and intensive citizen participation
• Consider extending the "right to mobility" to all citizens a priority of the same order as making urban mobility more sustainable
• Sharing initiatives as well as mobility resources and information, both within a territory, as well as among adjacent territories
• Measure and improve the ecological impact of information and communication technologies themselves.