Sustainable Mobility&Covid-19: Summary

The virtual event “Sustainable Mobility&COVID-19: Crisis or Opportunity?” was successfully organized in Greece by the PE4Trans project partner, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

In the frame of the project’s scope and in order to outline the conditions shaped during the COVID-19 era and also during the present period of measures relaxation, AUTh decided to focus on this subject by discussing and analyzing all the relevant aspects and challenges.

As a final account of the virtual event:

17 experts of various fields and backgrounds on mobility, health and economics and representatives of Local Authorities and the Civil Society (e.g. people with disabilities, pedestrians, cyclists etc.) covered different perspectives. Among them, the Mayor of Thessaloniki, the Deputy Governor of Infrastructure and Networks of the Region of Central Macedonia, and the CEO of the Athens airport joined the discussion.
More than 70 participants attended the event, either through the ZOOM platform or via live streaming in Facebook, being actively engaged by posing written questions or comments in the chat feature/section.

At this point, it is worthwhile to present some selected important conclusions:

Coronavirus pandemic still exists, we must be careful, and we should not ignore its existence.
The behavioral aspects of transport and mobility are changing, and there seems to be a shift towards more personalized means of transport.
Transport agencies face unprecedented situations to which they must respond immediately, and these influence all levels: Management, Personnel, Passengers.
Business models face many changes in terms of corporate governance and corporate structure.
Technologies, such as telematics systems, electronic ticketing as well as big data, have already offered useful solutions on the treatment and management of the pandemic, while there are great possibilities for the development or adoption of new applications.
Any measure designed should firstly take into account the needs of people with disabilities, not adding more problems in their mobility.
Local Governments should take the opportunity now offered by the State and proceed with pilot applications of projects that enhance sustainable mobility.

The English summary report of the “Sustainable Mobility&COVID-19: Crisis or Opportunity?” event includes the following seven sections: (1) The nature of travelling and the pandemic; (2) Main measures recommended by the competent bodies and additional protection measures in the transport and mobility chain; (3) Structural changes in the market and transport service providers; (4) Technological applications and safe transportation; (5) People with disabilities and mobility in the era of coronavirus; (6) Mobility, pandemic and Local Authorities; (7) Mobility and pandemic in the wider urban area of Thessaloniki.