The European Commission has appointed Ricardo-AEA for a project that aims to support cities across the EU in improving their transport systems.
The four-year study will develop a web-based policy support tool that will help city authorities assess a variety of cost-effective strategies to address key urban transport challenges like traffic congestion, urban air quality, carbon dioxide emissions, and accidents.
This policy support tool will provide users with quantified estimates of the impacts, along with costs of individual policy measures.
International energy and environmental company Ricardo-AEA will lead the programme in partnership with international cities network, ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, and Italian transport consultants TRT Trasporti e Territorio.
The project will design five unique illustrative policy scenarios for urban transport in the EU to 2030, which will help identify the actions required to be taken at the EU, national and local levels to achieve the EU policy objectives for cities.
In addition, the project involves engagement with representatives from city authorities and experts in order to ensure that the web-based tool is developed to address users’ needs for guidance on the development of cost-effective policy roadmaps.
Ricardo-AEA sustainable transport practice director Sujith Kollamthodi: “This ambitious and exciting project aims to help cities take action to tackle Europe’s most pressing urban mobility challenges.
“The guidance, tools and roadmaps that we will develop will be freely available to all European cities to help achieve outcomes which will last well beyond the lifetime of the project.”