Study Tour to Rome with Hungarian CIVINET and CIVINET Romania
Last week in Rome, Mobilissimus staff members Ráchel Surányi and Dragoș Hrițuleac represented the Hungarian and Romanian CIVINET networks at the CIVITAS international study tour and political forum, which brings together CIVINETs. They led a delegation from Hódmezővásárhely, Kecskemét (HU) and Alba Iulia, Timișoara, Brașov and Ploiești (RO).
The two-day event had approximately 70 participants and focused on inclusive shared mobility.
The first day began with plenary presentations, followed by CIVINET representatives presenting information and interesting inititives about the use of shared mobility in their regions, and then they broke into interactive small-group sessions where participants could discuss the challenges and opportunities—from various perspectives (policy, governance, infrastructure, behaviour).
What will encourage more people to use these services in different cities across Europe? How can they be made even more inclusive and accessible for various groups that are disadvantaged in some way (e.g., women, people of lower socioeconomic status, people with mobility impairments, etc.)? They sought answers to these questions and tried to find solutions.
Day 1
Among the main problems are that the planning of shared transportation services
- is mostly in the hands of middle-class men lacking training in inclusive transport planning,
- is not supported by the government in most municipalities, nor encouraged by legislation,
- Favors digital users, and
- They are often only available in areas that are already relatively well served by public transport, so they do not compete (only) with cars.
To promote shared mobility, we need
- more awareness campaigns,
- well-developed infrastructure,
- a transportation culture where everyone feels safe, and
- data collection to create targeted packages that can attract potential users.
The second day began with a poster session, where each team shared the results from the previous day, followed by a roundtable discussion featuring representatives from Rome’s shared mobility service providers, and we concluded the event with a site visit. The site tour took place along three different routes: two by bike and one on foot. Here, the tour guides showed us construction sites of interest from a transportation perspective (e.g., the new bike path).
Day 2
Photos: Ráchel Surányi
