A comparative analysis of transport policies and planning towards sustainable mobility

Abstract

The research presented in this article reflects on the transport policy and planning processes in France and Portugal. The transport policy and planning processes in France began in 1982 with the publication of the law of orientation for inland transports (LOTI). France with more than thirty years of experience on developing “Plans de déplacements urbains” (PDUs) - an integrated planning tool equivalent to Sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPS), has these plans as mandatory for agglomerations of more than 100,000 inhabitants by its national law issued in 1996 and that was made effective in 2000. The French experience of transforming the PDUs in “Plans de mobilité urbaine soutenable” (PMUS) is then analysed. It has led to the development of SUMPS at the European level with the publication of the EC recommendations and its 2013 – former publication revised in 2014 SUMP. However, SUMPS are still non-existing planning tools in several Member States. Considering the cross-fertilisation of planning experiences between France and Portugal, the transport policy and planning processes in Portugal are analysed. Portugal has recent mobility planning experiences that had been trigged somehow by the requirements set by the external funding mechanisms and the willingness of policy makers to move together for reaching common societal goals such decarbonisation. This is the case of the living lab experience of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL), a Regional Transport Authority, responsible for the development of the designated “Action Plan for Sustainable Urban Mobility” (Regional PAMUS) that had the scientific support of the LNEC on its methodological aspects. The development of the regional PAMUS included several interconnected components that represented innovative features in the context: an integrated approach for the development of the plans, that included a collaborative platform of all the sixteen cities in the region and more than fifty stakeholders; a formal agreement signed by all the City Mayors to work together towards sustainable mobility goals; a common vision (to reach carbon neutrality in the long-run); a communication strategy to the public; the acquisition of cycling data using the STRAVA interface; and, the development of a technological component to facilitate the interaction with citizens (app VAMUS). The research considers the above mentioned cross-fertilization of experiences for conducting a SWOT analysis such that the remaining challenges for future mobility and accessibility in the member states analysed can be outlined.