Thessaloniki receives local feedback on decision-support tool during European mobility week

Thessaloniki shared project updates of MOMENTUM and CliMobCity 2050 in the framework of the annual EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK.

The citizen-centred week about sustainable urban mobility is a perfect opportunity to engage with an interested audience. The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, which celebrated its 20^th anniversary this year, emphasised the importance of active mobility, safe use of public transport in a post-pandemic world, as well as the topic of mental health with its slogan of ‘Move Sustainably. Stay Healthy’. Thus, events across Europe sparked the interest of many citizens to engage in local actions to support sustainable urban mobility initiatives. Thessaloniki used this cause to engage with local citizens in the framework of an information event.

Whereas the Interreg-funded CliMobCity 2050 project focuses on the analysis of modal shift from private cars towards public transport in the framework of the existing Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of Thessaloniki, MOMENTUM is highlighting several transport planning aspects. These presentations were embedded in a wider programme as part of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK

Mrs Dimitra Kartsakli, transportation engineer at the Municipality of Thessaloniki, explained the overarching goals of MOMENTUM by highlighting the development of a set of new data analysis methods, transport models and planning support tools to capture the impact of new transport options, such as MaaS (Mobility as a Service), CAVs (Connected Automated Vehicles), as well as new shared mobility services and demand responsive transport.

Additionally, Kartsakli presented the case study of Thessaloniki as the first pilot city where the new methods and tools will be applied. This specifically included the ‘Decision Support Tool’, which enables cities to model the deployment of new mobility solutions across the entire urban area or specific quarters. Besides the explanation of the five levels of the tool, as well as their use, Kartsakli also demonstrated the tool by providing examples of existing use cases to the interested audience.

After the presentation the audience was encouraged to express its remarks, comments and thoughts on the Momentum project and its achievements. Generally, there was a positive reaction of the participants and some of the local stakeholders related to mobility formulated their willingness to test and apply the tool. However, there were some attendees who expressed their disbelief on the usability of the tool and the effectiveness of the new mobility solutions.

The audience was motivated to participate in the local working group which took place 23 November.

Source: https://h2020-momentum.eu/news-events/news/thessa-emw/