Thessaloniki’s Urban Mobility Center provides traveler information for all transport modes while considering the local urban mobility needs and the environment.
Thessaloniki’s Urban Mobility Center is a unified effort among all the key actors of the city who deal with urban mobility, transport and environment. This online system aims to help citizens and visitors move around the city easily while avoiding the traffic congested areas. Additionally, it aims to raise environmental public awareness and promote public transportation and active transport modes (walking and cycling). At the same time, through intelligent traffic management and control in Thessaloniki’s city center, the system aims to reduce the negative impacts of the gas pollutants.
Services provided:
-Best routes based on criteria defined by the user for all the available transport modes: the user can insert the data/preferences and the system provides him with all the relevant information. Alternative possible routes with public transport, multimodality, pedestrian routing, provision of the most environment-friendly and most cost efficient route in terms of fuel consumption to the driver.
-Information for: real time traffic conditions, daily air quality conditions of the city presented on a colour scale, points of interest, public transport timetables and stops
-Awareness raising: through special urban mobility training programs offered online, a new culture for urban mobility is formed in the city. Familiarisation with the concept of Sustainable Urban Mobility through provision of best practices, interactive games, quizzes, crosswords etc.
-Traffic Control Center
Resources needed
The project was funded 50% from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the ’European Economic Association’ and 50% by National Funds. The total amount needed for its fully development and set up was €2,916,854. Need to secure resources continuously for the project’s maintenance is identified.
Evidence of success
The operation of the Urban Mobility Center is considered as an important and effective intervention of environment-friendly urban transport demand management. It integrates the existing city activities with the optimal traffic management as well as with the monitoring of air quality throughout the city center. Also, it provides real-time information and mobility solutions to citizens promoting alternative transport modes or fuel efficient routes with the view to affect their habits.
Difficulties encountered
Mobithess requires resources for continuous maintenance, update and improvement in order to ensure provision of good quality services and accurate results. Moreover, the responsible stakeholders need to monitor the system’s operation impacts while promoting and ensuring the acceptance of the users.
Potential for learning or transfer
This practice is a standalone urban mobility planning and management tool that can provide valuable guidance to local authorities and it can be used on a daily basis from citizens and visitors in urban environments as well. Strong cooperation among all involved stakeholders is needed. Thus, the basis of future cooperation and the establishment of good communication among them can be achieved. Furthermore, it results into a state-of-the-art mobility management system, providing advanced traveler information services while, also, employing the city with modern infrastructures and equipment. Finally, these services create data sets of traffic data which can be further used to update existing traffic models. Such projects enhance the know-how of a city and have the potential for further development and exploitation.
Tags: Transport, Industry, ICT
