EcoMobility

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Possible scenario of clean mobility Clean mobility instead of dirty traffic.jpg
Possible scenario of clean mobility

Ecomobility is travel through integrated, socially inclusive, and environmentally friendly transport options, including and integrating walking, cycling, public transport and other climate and people friendly innovative modes of transport. By enabling citizens and organizations to access goods, services, and information in a sustainable manner, ecomobility supports citizens’ quality of life, increases travel choices, and promotes social cohesion.

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It is neither a new kind of transportation nor is it a collective word to indicate heterogeneous transport. Ecomobility indicates a new approach to mobility that highlights the importance of public and non-motorized transport and promotes an integrated use of all modes in a city. Environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive, ecological mobile transport choices have low to no emission compared to the personal automobiles powered by fossil fuels. It supports the use of light electric vehicles, provided that the source of the electricity is from renewable energy sources. Incorporating Ecomobility into the development of traffic systems and policies will benefit local governments in attaining international recognition for the city and its leadership.

ICLEI has a dedicated agenda to promote ecomobility in cities titled the EcoMobile City (sustainable urban transport) Agenda. Under this agenda ICLEI executes the following 3 key projects:

  1. EcoMobility Alliance
  2. EcoMobility World Festival
  3. EcoMobility World Congress

EcoMobility Alliance was created in October 2011 in Changwon, Korea. It is a transformation of the earlier Global Alliance for EcoMobility, which is a non-governmental organization founded and launched in Bali on 10 December 2007, on the occasion of the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC-COP-13). [1] [2] ICLEI legally represents and hosts the Secretariat of the EcoMobility Alliance. The Secretariat office is located in Bonn, Germany. The EcoMobility Alliance is an international non-profit partnership that works to promote EcoMobility and thus reduce citizens’ dependency on private motorized vehicles worldwide. The EcoMobility Alliance is chaired by a visionary city leader.

Ecomobility Alliance Chairs [as of December 2016]:

EcoMobility World Festival, is a month long experiment taken up by challenging and visionary city leaders to display an automobile free lifestyle in a neighborhood of a city. Citizens in this neighborhood will show the world that a normal life can be lead without depending on personal automobiles. Citizens will embrace the improved walking, cycling and public transport facilities and use light electric vehicles, to replace the otherwise motorized trips in the neighborhood.

EcoMobility World Festivals so far [as of December 2016]:

EcoMobility World Congress, provides with a fresh, visionary and enriching perspectives on sustainable urban mobility. The congresses aim to provide comprehensive international knowledge in the field of ecomobility. Renowned transportation experts, change makers, decision makers, city leaders and innovators, from around the globe will present some of the world’s best case studies, and participants will learn how to kick start and implement good policies while engaging in fruitful debates about mobility for the future of sustainable cities.

EcoMobility World Congresses so far [as of December 2016]

In addition to the projects above, ICLEI's EcoMobile City (Sustainable Urban Transport) Agenda also works on the following areas:

For more information on EcoMobility visit: https://www.ecomobility.org

See also

Related Research Articles

Agenda 21 Decision Taken Rio Summit, 1992

Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral organizations, and individual governments around the world that can be executed at local, national, and global levels. One major objective of the Agenda 21 initiative is that every local government should draw its own local Agenda 21. Its aim initially was to achieve global sustainable development by 2000, with the "21" in Agenda 21 referring to the original target of the 21st century.

Private transport

Private transport is the personal or individual use of transportation vehicles which are not available for use by the general public, where essentially the user can decide freely on the time and route of transit, using vehicles such as: private car, company car, bicycle, dicycle, self-balancing scooter, motorcycle, scooter, aircraft, boat, snowmobile, carriage, horse, etc., or recreational equipment such as roller skates, inline skates, sailboat, sailplane, skateboard etc.

Car-Free Days Day promoting car-free travel


World Car Free Day, which is celebrated on September 22, encourages motorists to give up their cars for a day. Organized events are held in some cities and countries.

Pedestrian zone Urban car-free area reserved for pedestrian use

Pedestrian zones are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in which most or all automobile traffic is prohibited. Converting a street or an area to pedestrian-only use is called pedestrianisation. Pedestrianisation usually aims to provide better accessibility and mobility for pedestrians, to enhance the amount of shopping and other business activities in the area and/or to improve the attractiveness of the local environment in terms of aesthetics, air pollution, noise and crashes involving motor vehicle with pedestrians. However, pedestrianisation can sometimes lead to reductions in business activity, property devaluation, and displacement of economic activity to other areas. In some cases traffic in surrounding areas may increase, due to displacement, rather than substitution of car traffic. Nonetheless, pedestrianisation schemes are often associated with significant drops in local air and noise pollution, accidents, and frequently with increased retail turnover and increased property values locally. A car-free development generally implies a large scale pedestrianised area that relies on modes of transport other than the car, while pedestrian zones may vary in size from a single square to entire districts, but with highly variable degrees of dependence on cars for their broader transport links.

Changwon Specific city in South Gyeongsang, South Korea

Changwon is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea. With a population of 1.07 million as of 2015, Changwon is South Korea's ninth-most populous city.

Suwon Specific city in Gyeonggi, South Korea

Suwon is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about 30 km (19 mi) south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a population close to 1.3 million, it is larger than Ulsan, although it is not governed as a metropolitan city.

Sustainable transport

Sustainable transport refers to the broad subject of transport that is sustainable in the senses of social, environmental and climate impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; the source of energy; and the infrastructure used to accommodate the transport. Transport operations and logistics as well as transit-oriented development are also involved in evaluation. Transportation sustainability is largely being measured by transportation system effectiveness and efficiency as well as the environmental and climate impacts of the system.

Carfree city Urban area absent of cars

A carfree city is a population center that relies primarily on public transport, walking, or cycling for transport within the urban area. Districts where motorized vehicles are prohibited are referred to as carfree zones. Carfree city models have gained traction due to current issues with congestion and infrastructure, and proposed environmental and quality of life benefits. Currently in Asia, Europe and Africa, many cities continued to have carfree areas due to inception before the origin of the automobile. Many developing cities in Asia are currently using the proposed model to modernize its infrastructure.

Transportation demand management policies to reduce transportation demands

Transportation demand management, traffic demand management or travel demand management (TDM) is the application of strategies and policies to reduce travel demand, or to redistribute this demand in space or in time.

ICLEI International sustainability organization

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is an international non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable development. ICLEI provides technical consulting to local governments to meet sustainability objectives.

The EcoMobility Alliance is a global, cross-sectoral partnership for the affirmation of EcoMobility i.e. the integrated promotion of walking, cycling, wheeling and passenging. The Alliance promotes EcoMobility for the purpose of mobility and accessibility for all, health, clean air, noise avoidance, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emission reduction and individual cost savings, and thus as an opportunity for sustainable urban development.

Shared transport Demand-driven vehicle-sharing arrangement

Shared transport or shared mobility is a transportation system where travelers share a vehicle either simultaneously as a group or over time as personal rental, and in the process share the cost of the journey, thus creating a hybrid between private vehicle use and mass or public transport. It is a transportation strategy that allows users to access transportation services on an as-needed basis. Shared mobility is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of transportation modes including carsharing, Bicycle-sharing systems, ridesharing companies, carpools, and microtransit.

Praja Bangalore, also known as Praja.in and Praja RAAG, is an organization of citizens who take active interest in urban civic issues concerning Bangalore. Unlike the traditional activist groups and NGOs in India, members of this non-profit group interact largely via Internet-based social media tools.

Michael Replogle is an internationally recognized expert in the field of sustainable transport. He co-founded the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in 1985, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation projects and policies worldwide, as well as Bikes Not Bombs in 1984. He was the president of ITDP from 1985–1992 and 1998-2009, and managing director of ITDP from 2009-2015. His seminal 1987 paper on sustainable transport was the first to define the term.

Ahn Sang-soo is a South Korean politician. He was chairman of the Grand National Party, the precursor to the Saenuri Party. He was the Mayor of Changwon from 2014 to 2018. He hopes to improve that city's bicycle-sharing plan.

Sustainable Transport Award

The Sustainable Transport Award (STA) is presented annually to a city that has shown leadership and vision in the field of sustainable transportation and urban livability in the preceding year. Nominations are accepted from anyone, and winners and honorable mentions are chosen by the Sustainable Transport Award Steering Committee.

The Charter of European Sustainable Cities and Towns Towards Sustainability otherwise known as the Aalborg Charter (1994) is an urban environment sustainability initiative approved by the participants at the first European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns in Aalborg, Denmark. It is inspired by the Rio Earth Summit’s Local Agenda 21 plan, and was developed to contribute to the European Union’s Environmental Action Programme, ‘Towards Sustainability’.

Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a type of service that through a joint digital channel enables users to plan, book, and pay for multiple types of mobility services. The concept describes a shift away from personally-owned modes of transportation and towards mobility provided as a service. This is enabled by combining transportation services from public and private transportation providers through a unified gateway that creates and manages the trip, which users can pay for with a single account. Users can pay per trip or a monthly fee for a limited distance. The key concept behind MaaS is to offer travelers mobility solutions based on their travel needs. Specialist urban mobility applications are also expanding their offerings to enable MaaS, such as Transit, Uber and Lyft.

Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy

The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy was established 2016 by bringing formally together the Compact of Mayors and the European Union's Covenant of Mayors. It is a global coalition of city leaders addressing climate change by pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the future impacts of climate change. The Compact highlights cities’ climate impact while measuring their relative risk levels and carbon pollution. The Compact of Mayors seeks to show the importance of city climate action, both at the local level and around the world. The Compact was launched in 2014 by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. The Compact represents a common effort from global city networks C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), ICLEI, and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), as well as UN-Habitat, to unite against climate change. 428 global cities have committed to the Compact of Mayors. The collective member cities comprise over 376 million people and 5.19% of the global population.

Emani Kumar

Emani Kumar is an Indian civil engineer with more than 25 years of experience of working on issues related to sustainable urban development. A strong proponent of the message that local action moves the world, the focus of his work is cities and urban local bodies. Emani Kumar is the founding Executive Director of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, South Asia. This not for profit organization, established in 2005, is the South Asian arm of ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability. ICLEI is a global network of cities, towns and regions committed to building a sustainable future. Today, the ICLEI network includes more than 1,750 local and regional governments in 100+ countries, impacting more than 25% of the global population.

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2014-04-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)[ dead link ]
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2014-04-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)[ dead link ]