CISMOB - Cooperative information platform for low carbon and sustainable mobility: ICT towards low carbon and sustainable mobility: a multiscale perspective

Abstract

The transport sector has an important contribution to the economy, employment and to the citizens’ mobility. However, it is also a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, representing almost a quarter of Europe's GHG emissions, and air pollution, which reduces air quality in cities with direct effects on public health. In particular, road transport is responsible for almost a fifth of total EU emissions and 73% of emissions from transport (European Commission, 2017). Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is the application of sensing, analysis, control and communications technologies for the management of the transport process to improve safety, mobility and efficiency, increase security and reduce environment impact. The use of ITS tools in transport has brought significant improvement in transport systems performance and it is a key element in reducing carbon footprint, as well as increasing the sustainability on an urban scale. The increasing road transport volumes in the EU are the primary cause of growing congestion and energy consumption, as well as a source of environmental and social problems (Tafidis & Bandeira, 2017). According to EC, ITS can contribute to the main transport policy objectives by reducing environmental impacts and save energy through better demand management. Therefore, the primary goals for urban transport should be the promotion of cleaner cars and fuels and the reduction of road accidents and traffic congestion. ITS tools can have a significant role to a cleaner, safer and more efficient transport system. EC with the ITS Directive (2010/40/EU) gave the necessary legal framework to their member states to accelerate the implementation of smart technologies in transport sector, giving each country freedom to decide their priorities (Urban ITS Expert Group, 2013). Regarding the mobility sector, there is a clear lack of well-structured policy guidelines that leverage the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), sensing systems and big data to promote a more sustainable use of infrastructures. Specifically, there is still a waste of available resources for estimation real time mobility impacts and an even more obvious inability to use this information to implement sustainable mobility policies. The concept of sustainability in CISMOB concerns not only the carbon footprint but also the local economy and the social dimension, including active transport networks, users and the rest of citizens. Against this background, CISMOB partnership was developed in order to collect new ideas and practical experience.