POLIS and IRU pledge to enhance collective mobility in cities
POLIS and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) invite their members and other stakeholders to sign up to the Stakeholders’ Pledge to enhance collective mobility in cities’ for coach travel in, around and between European Cities.
Throughout Europe, cities are studying how they can best plan for coach access to city centres, thus enabling tourists to access the city at low cost as well as providing access for long haul regular coach travel. These strategies include push- as well as pull measures and they all require close cooperation with the coach sector.
Cities, regions and coach operators providing services in, around and between European cities share common concerns in terms of air quality, decarbonisation and energy transition. The objective of this Pledge is to promote and increase the use of collective mobility in everyday travel and other mobility needs such as school, employee and socio-cultural transport, intercity long distance connections and tourism.
In signing the Pledge, stakeholders commit to action according to mutually agreed principles, including:
- Integration of incoming coach traffic in sustainable urban mobility plans including coach access plans as distinct from urban freight plans (SULPs).
- Specific access and traffic rules for coaches, including differentiated parking solutions, routing, amenities for drivers, alternative fuelling and charging infrastructure.
- Impact assessment of the routing, parking and access regulations that apply to coaches
- Consultation between the local and international coach sector and cities/metropolitan areas
- Technology neutral conditions for the access of coaches to cities provided coaches comply with local emissions requirements
- Communication and notification of coach access strategies and measures properly communicated to all stakeholders
- Harmonisation of document recognition to ensure that all official documents issued by an authorised public or private body to certify vehicle compliance or conformity with EU or national standards should be recognised by the enforcement authorities of all other EU Member States
- Single window for information in which information about new and existing schemes, the related administrative procedures and the transition periods should be available in a standardised, multilingual format via an “EU single window”.
Karen Vancluysen, POLIS Network Secretary General, said, “Cities are at the start of integrating coach in the urban mobility system. It reminds me of how we were looking at urban freight management a decade ago – leading currently to mature planning and operational solutions. Polis is convinced that cooperation is key, and that is why we sign up to this pledge and invite other to join the process!”
“Like buses, tourist coaches are a form of collective mobility that help to combat air quality and congestion issues in cities. IRU is extremely pleased to sign the Pledge on the urban vehicle access regulations for coach travel alongside Polis,” added Raluca Marian, IRU General Delegate of the Permanent Delegation to the European Union.
To read the full document, click here.
All stakeholders interested in signing the pledge are welcome to contact Ivo Cré.
