The European Commission has given a €4 million grant to Civitas towards developing sustainable transport and logistics in Europe’s cities.
A consortium of 14 European research institutes, associates and consulting companies (including 10 SMEs) will share the grant for the three-year project.
Known as Civitas Capital, the project will issue recommendations on research and development for sustainable transport, pool existing knowledge to produce best-practice guides, support the transfer of measures to other cities and create five additional and regional networks and continue to manage the five existing ones.
EU transport commissioner and vice-president Siim Kallas said: “This grant demonstrates the continued commitment of the EU to sustainable urban mobility. Civitas is one of the most important EU initiatives in this field, and will deliver tangible results. We need to develop further the urban dimension of our transport policy. To that end, the Commission will present a comprehensive urban mobility package later this year.”
The European Commission aims to phase out the use of conventionally-fuelled vehicles in urban areas by 2050 and achieve essentially CO2 free logistics in major urban areas by 2030.
UK towns and cities involved in the Civitas demonstration programme include Bath, Brighton and Hove, Bristol and Winchester.
