How European cities are helping one another in advancing towards sustainable mobility
While the transport sector is a vital component of the European Union (EU) economy, contributing 5% to the EU’s GDP and employing 10 million people, it also presents a significant environmental challenge. Indeed, transport accounts for around 25% of the EU’s total CO₂ emissions, with road transport being the largest contributor, responsible for 71.7% of those emissions. Additionally, 23% of all transport-related greenhouse gas emissions come from urban areas (cities, towns and suburbs), where most EU citizens live.
Cities across Europe must thus strive to make urban mobility more sustainable and accessible to achieve a 90% reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in line with the European Union’s climate targets. One significant challenge is the insufficient public transport in smaller and medium-sized cities, which causes residents to depend more heavily on cars on a daily basis. In fact, larger cities (with over one million inhabitants) tend to offer more frequent public transport services and better-developed cycling infrastructure than smaller cities (with under 250,000 inhabitants). Overall, approximately 88% of European citizens still own a car.
“If we want to achieve our sustainability goals, then I believe that all European cities, also small and medium ones, have to focus on the more sustainable types of transportation,” explained Aksels Ruperts, PUMA Lead partner project coordinator.
