MODERN has been the occasion to conjugate strategic planning to operational demonstrative measures. It has improved each city’s project management skills, enhanced the ability to cater relationships and leveraged technical knowledge to a higher degree. The commitment of Craiova, Brescia, Coimbra and Vitoria-Gasteiz to implement a bold set of integrated measures to reduce the car dependency and the dependency on fossil fuels,optimizing the use of energy and limiting emissions has been fulfilled. The most salient innovations can be summarized as follow:
• URBAN PLANNING
“a strategic state-of-the-art approach”
In Vitoria-Gasteiz the concept of “superblock” in the consolidated city has been proved by implementing a new Public Transport network and promoting soft modes thanks to the new modal space allocation
• E-TICKETING
“stimulating intermodality through technology and service”
In Craiova, Coimbra and Brescia diverse solutions were adopted for the integrated ticketing systems, from single contactless mobility cards for accessing all the mobility services available, to e-ticketing systems installed on buses and trams for connecting the vehicles to a central dispatch system for data collection and processing. Within each city the solutions are very promising and produced relevant results so as to become in the future real best practices in Europe.
• INNOVATIVE ENERGY SOURCES
“testing valid alternatives to curb the use of fossil fuels”
In Coimbra the study of the small-hydro power plant gave bright perspective to generate relevant revenues in favor of Public Transport as the energy produced in any one of the solutions identified, is in excess of the 750.000 kWh needed by the city’s trolleybuses and mini-electric buses. The 100 kwphotovoltaic plant in Brescia effectively produced about 94 Mwh/yr with a reduction of 47 t of CO2.
• CITIES’ COLLABORATION
“favouring transferability and partnerships”
In every city the MODERN teams recognized the importance of collaboration and knowledge sharing
and thus fostered coherent ways of operating. The mutual support given in the definition of the tendering processes for the e-ticketing measures in Craiova, Brescia and Coimbra is emblematic of the cooperative attitude cultivated amongst the partners and the people of MODERN. MODERN project conjugated state-of-the-art strategic planning to operational demonstrative measures introducing a broad range of innovative solutions, encouraging transferability and knowledge sharing amongst cities, pursuing robust evaluation activities while disseminating to leverage its efforts. Notwithstanding all the thoroughness pursued during the project lifetime, the single partners as well as the consortium as a whole, had to face certain challenges that were in most cases successfully tackled.
