The workshop, which took place on 30 March 2022, aimed to identify the transport challenges of municipalities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and the relation to the local SUMPs.
The discussion revolved around the initiatives launched by the Municipalities thanks to the Bike to Work contributions, funded by the Region to develop sustainable mobility and improve safety for cyclists, to encourage home-work, home-school transfers, promote cycle tourism and, in general, to encourage citizens to approach conscious mobility choices.
RER presented the current initiatives related to bike-to work. The Emilia-Romagna Region considers the improvement and protection of air quality among its priority objectives, leading to important implications on the health of citizens and the environment. The "Bike to Work" project encourages the use of bicycles, also facilitating their interchange with the railway system.
Additionally, the Municipalities agreed that bike-to-work incentives were useful to continue specific policies and support SUMPs. Cultural change is very important and will be included in mobility projects. They had some difficulties in using the bike-to work fundings to give incentives directly to employees because of bureaucracy and administrative matters.
The second topic of the workshop was the identification of potential COVID-19 disruptions to the municipal SUMPs, which were supported in the first phase of the REFORM project. One of the mentioned topics was the importance of having apps to map the flows of people moving to go to work. Most municipalities are concerned that Covid has changed for the worse mobility patterns and specifically brought citizens to use more their private cars. This trend must be reverted thanks to SUMPs and local initiatives, which can also be in synergy with the initiatives of RER.
Overall, all municipalities agree that RER can effectively support SUMPs with measures such as bike-to -work. Exchange of experience with other municipalities is essential to resolve some issues.
