FLOW sees a need for a paradigm shift wherein non-motorised transport (often seen from a transport policy perspective simply as a nice “extra”) is placed on an equal footing with motorised modes with regard to urban congestion. To do this, FLOW will create a link between (currently poorly-connected) walking and cycling and congestion by developing a user-friendly methodology for evaluating the ability of walking and cycling measures to reduce congestion. FLOW will develop assessment tools to allow cities to evaluate effects of walking and cycling measures on congestion. Our aim is for the tools to become the standard for assessing the impact of walking and cycling measures on congestion. The tools include a congestion impact assessment (including socio-economic impact, an assessment of soft measures, congestion evaluation based on KPIs and a cost benefit analysis) and traffic modelling. Current modelling software will be calibrated and customised in FLOW partner cities to analyse the relationship of cyclist and pedestrian movements to congestion. The modelling and impact assessment will identify the congestion reducing effect of walking and cycling measures. FLOW partner cities will develop implementation scenarios and action plans for adding or up-scaling measures that are shown to reduce congestion. FLOW will target three distinct audiences, with appropriate materials and messaging for each. Cities will learn about the value and use of new transport modelling tools, businesses will be made aware of the potential market in congestion busting products and services and decision makers will be provided with facts to argue for walking and cycling to be put on equal footing with other modes of transport. FLOW will meet the challenge of “significantly reducing urban road congestion and improving the financial and environmental sustainability of urban transport” by improving the understanding of walking and cycling measures that have potential to reduce urban congestion.

Parking management should be an important part of sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) but unfortunately, it is one the most underdeveloped segments. Most EU member states lack national level policy and guidance on parking. PARK4SUMP aims to change this, because good parking management has proved to be of utmost importance. It frees the public space, supports local businesses, reduces search travel, generates revenue, increases safety, supports urban planning and can make cities more attractive. The general concept is to take the very best parking management examples, contexts and expertise in Europe, learn and profit from these, and transfer them on a large scale and in the best way possible to new cities . This covers raising awareness and gaining acceptance among relevant stakeholders; building capacity, particularly among cities that have difficulty in picking up such policies; stimulating further innovation; and achieving wide roll-out and transferability. Park4SUMP will work on traffic and travel avoidance; it will support less car dependent lifestyles and put into practise innovations in planning and location policy. It will also optimise the use of existing infrastructure. Furthermore the modal shift towards more efficient modes like walking, cycling and public transport will be encouraged. Convincing arguments to incorporate parking management can be given : it has low costs, it pays for itself, it delivers money, it is easy to implement and to modify and it can be done in incremental steps. The main expected impact will be cities with strongly improved parking policies that are creatively used to improve the quality of life and business in cities and develop the cities in a more sustainable way. Park4SUMP aims to establish parking management as an essential part of SUMPS of its leading, follower and external follower cities. Park4SUMP will deliver behaviour change whilst generating revenue.

Through SUMPs-Up, an experienced consortium of public and private organisations, including four major city networks and seven frontrunner cities, skilled in coordinating major European SUMP projects will accelerate the take-up of SUMPs, where this is currently low, ensuring that SUMP is the primary mobility planning concept in Europe. To achieve this, the project will combine comprehensive SUMP research, tailored capacity-building, strong mechanisms for technical support, as well as constant SUMP monitoring and evaluation. As a result, the project will accelerate the development of 100 SUMPs, reach out to 600 cities and will therefore engage about 80% of the EU-cities above 50,000 inhabitants. SUMPs-Up will review, strengthen and integrate existing SUMP resources, designing a support system to assist cities to develop high quality SUMPs. A SUMP Tool Inventory will help mobility planners make better informed decisions about which planning tools to apply in their local context. This will be enriched with experiences from the city partners who will be testing innovative solutions in SUMP preparation and implementation. The SUMPs Up Innovation Pilot Pool will create a mechanism that allows identifying and validating the most effective concepts, approaches and methodologies in SUMP practice for different framework conditions and different types of cities, complemented by a peer learning programme, to leverage resources and enable more cities to apply the SUMP concept. At Member State level, SUMPs-Up will foster exchange to improve national SUMP frameworks. Close monitoring and evaluation of the project and supported activities will show evidence of the SUMP concept’s value and serve as a quality control mechanism for both project activities and the SUMPs being developed. SUMPs-Up will broadly communicate the positive impacts of SUMPs, producing and disseminating insightful reports and research. Ultimately, SUMPs-Up will stimulate a European movement of mobility planning authorities experienced in preparing and implementing SUMPs in compliance with the European requirements.