Rome adopts a new Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan

The Italian capital, Rome, has recently released a new urban mobility plan that follows the principles of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). 

The SUMP will tackle a broad range of mobility issues that the city is facing, including those relating to active mobility (walking, cycling, etc), infrastructure for public transport, the primary road network and the distribution of goods within the city. The aim of the plan is to promote accessibility for all, safety and the use of ‘smart’ technologies that enable communication between infrastructure, vehicles and people. The plan consists of short, medium and long-term goals, which are set out in corresponding plans:

• Short-term plan, which focuses on the most urgent and critical issues for the administration and the city's residents, commuters, students and tourists;
• Medium-term plan, which consists of more significant work that requires more time to design, due to its complexity, or to work that has a lower level of priority;
• A long-term scenario, which looks at all of the work that is considered to be achievable and beneficial to ensure sustainable mobility in the city in the longer-term.

The city's administration used a programming tool to define its priorities for the next 5 to 10 years. The tool was built with a significant contribution from residents, which resulted in transparent plans that place people and their mobility needs at the centre. In order to increase its simplicity and to ensure that it covers all of the city's mobility challenges, the SUMP has been divided into a series of plans focusing on the following:

• Public transport;
• Infrastructure network;
• Urban logistics;
• Cycling system;
• Environmental islands;
• Road safety;
• Accessibility for everyone;
• Diffusion of telematic technologies.

Within each of these plans the SUMP aims to:

• Guarantee all residents transport options that enable them to access key destinations and services;
• Improve safety;
• Reduce air and noise pollution;
• Improve the efficiency and cost of transport;
• Contribute to the attractiveness of the city.

More information on the plan can be found on its website.