Expert corner: SUMP reference materials

The neighbourhood is the geographical unit where most people experience their city first hand – they live there, walk, cycle and drive within, to and from their neighbourhood and are directly affected by the quality of their surroundings and infrastructure. However, the neighbourhood is rarely considered as a central unit for planning efforts – be it for mobility or other domains. This SUMP topic guide highlights ways in which planning efforts at the neighbourhood level and at the city-wide level can complement one another.

Surveys have shown that cities with a population of less than 100,000 are much less likely to develop Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) than their larger counterparts and are also underrepresented in good practice databases and the community of experts. Smaller cities and towns often have fewer resources and expertise for strategic mobility planning, making it more difficult to develop SUMPs. They also tend to have a stronger car-dependency and weaker public transport, which can make it feel even more daunting to pursue a sustainable vision. On the other hand, smaller cities and towns often have well-connected social communities and more walkable and bikeable distances, offering ideal opportunities for sustainable mobility. This document provides guidance on how to successfully develop and implement a SUMP in smaller cities and towns. It provides planning methods, tools and policies that have proven to work well in smaller urban areas, and also includes a variety of good practice examples from all over Europe, highlighting the benefits of SUMP for some of the most common problems in smaller cities and towns.

In Europe, growing urbanisation has often led to the physical expansion of cities, where urban cores are now surrounded by commuter belts with which they share infrastructure, housing and workplaces, creating new functional urban areas that go beyond the traditional administrative boundaries. Among the different types of functional urban areas, metropolitan regions emerge for their economic attractiveness, the huge commuter flows, their complex and multi-modal urban transport systems, and for typically being transport nodes of European and national importance. Governance schemes and planning processes at metropolitan scale vary from one specific context to another making it impossible to have a one-size-fits-all solution. Nevertheless, common principles and lessons learned can still be drawn for the benefit of all metropolitan regions, while specific examples provide concrete support for all contexts alike.

The Poly-SUMP Methodology is used to develop a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) for a region with a polycentric profile crossing administrative areas. The Poly-SUMP Methodology uses a collaborative working process to bring together key stakeholders of the polycentric region to initiate dialogue across institutional and geographic boundaries, regarding the region’s common mobility challenges and issues. Part 1 of these guidelines outline the Poly-SUMP Methodology: what it is; how the methodology can benefit you and your region; and how it can be applied. It describes how the Poly-SUMP Methodology can assist you when working with regional SUMPs, as well as other positive spin-off effects. Part 2 offers a step-by-step guide that will assist you in determining whether this approach is suited to you and your region, and how to effectively implement it. Part 3 of the guidelines explain how the Poly-SUMP Methodology can be adjusted to fit the particular circumstances in your region.

This Topic Guide is about national SUMP supporting programmes (NSSPs): programmes run at the national or regional government level to encourage, support, require and/or give incentives and disincentives to cities and other local governments to implement SUMPs. Countries and regions that are known for a long history of SUMP activity, such as England, France, Catalunya, Flanders, Slovenia and to an extent Sweden, are all countries that have also had a national SUMP supporting programme in place, often for many years. It is clear therefore that an NSSP is associated with more and longer-lived SUMP activity – not surprisingly, given that cities often take their policy lead, and often receive money, from higher levels of government. This document provides information on how to set up NSSPs, and which elements are most effective, based on experience from some of the most advanced NSSPs in Europe, gathered and developed in the framework of the PROSPERITY H2020 SUMP project (2016-2019) in which ministries and national agencies met together at the international level, and then with cities at the national level, to compare, discuss and develop their NSSPs.

Health is more than the absence of disease. It is arguably a foundation for life and living. While there are many aspects and facets to Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), improved health itself has historically not been seen as something to consciously consider as a transport or urban planner. Yet in fact there are many health benefits and problems that are closely linked to transport and therefore SUMPs can and must make these links and help to deliver improved public health.

This document addresses planning in uncertain times when a major crisis is triggering significant changes in all areas. An immediate crisis can cause further long-term changes and increase the impact of other major trends, such as climate change. Managing such fundamental change processes is a key challenge for urban mobility practitioners to integrate into their plans. In this document, a crisis can be defined as any event that may lead to an unstable and dangerous situation which affects the urban mobility systems or whose impact, duration and severity are affected by the urban mobility system. Crises covered in this guide include, but are not limited to, natural or man-made disasters, pandemics, economic crises, social crises, environmental crisis, terrorism, cyberattacks, geopolitical crises, etc. The first section of this topic guide first introduces the concept of resilience in the context of urban mobility and the importance of integrating it into the SUMP procedure. It presents the 4 phases of the SUMP cycle with a resilience focus. The second section addresses specific resilience-related themes such as car independent lifestyles, electromobility, collective passenger transport, demand management strategies, road safety, transport telematics and urban freight. This section results from hands-on experiences made by research and innovation projects related to the mentioned topics proposed for short-term and long-term measures, lessons learned and case examples, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study.

Decarbonisation of urban transport will enable cities to mitigate the climate change impacts of urban mobility. It requires a set of measures that will significantly impact personal behaviour and living patterns. Effective greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction requires changes in how we live, particularly regarding the role of the private car. These changes will require political commitment, at least public acceptance, and have to be based on constant and decades-long dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders. Setbacks along the way are inevitable. Decarbonisation of urban mobility is one of the most challenging areas in the fight against climate change. While some progress has been achieved in many cities, the broader picture so far shows a steady increase in the absolute and relative GHG emissions from transport (including urban transport). This guide aims to help planners and decision-makers responsible for tackling climate change and for developing transport plans, at all levels, to understand which measures to introduce within Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) and the types of impact that are to be expected from those measures, to achieve the relevant GHG emissions reduction targets. It focuses on personal mobility.

First published December 2022 (revised September 2024)

As cities grow rapidly, the need for gender responsive and inclusive transportation systems increases as well. Mobility is determined by the degree to which the city as a whole is accessible to all its residents - regardless of age, gender, race or ability - and to what extent they can participate in urban activities. Barriers to accessibility disrupt freedom of movement and place burdens on those who are already facing immense difficulties in moving around cities. Cities themselves tend to be unequal and this increases with growth. The need and interests of their inhabitants vary according to their life stage, realities and local environment. Transport systems are typically designed for an idealised group of middle-class, male, adult, self-empowered users who have neither major mental, sensory or physical disabilities nor inhibitions concerning navigating the transport system by themselves. The impact these types of systems have on both men and women is inadequately documented, and no systematic inclusion of women’s needs in transport has been foreseen. This Topic Guide offers support to mobility practitioners and local authorities in understanding where gender equity and inclusivity meet transport planning, an important and highly relevant topic that Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning and measure development need to address. New ways of designing urban environments have to emerge and this document provides guidance in designing balanced, socially inclusive, and gender equitable places for people to live in.

Road safety should be an essential component in the planning and implementation of local and regional SUMPs as sustainability is not impossible without safety. In attempting to secure change in urban mobility patterns to more sustainable modes, road safety should be regarded as a critical challenge. Real and perceived safety has a profound effect on modal choice especially in terms of the most sustainable modes of travel - walking and cycling and the ability to access public transport. The main objective of the Topic Guide is to provide planning recommendations and a relevant framework for stakeholders involved in urban planning on the topic of Road Safety and Vulnerable Road Users (VRU), with a specific focus on pedestrians and cyclists. This Topic Guide has a policy focus concentrating on how to address ‘Safety and Active travel’ in the SUMP planning and implementation process in order to achieve clear set of policy goals on road safety.

This Topic Guide aims to provide answers to the question: “How can transport products, services and works be delivered sustainably?”. Public procurement accounts for about 19% of the European Union’s GDP and thus is a powerful lever to support the transition of urban mobility. The purchasing power of municipalities and regions can create a critical demand for innovative and green goods, services and business models such as low emission vehicles or shared mobility solutions. Public procurement can increase their competitiveness and availability, and thus trigger the market penetration of innovative products and services. The Guide discusses the general concept of sustainable public procurement, the legislative environment in the EU and leads through the different stages of a procurement process for SUMP measures in a stepwise approach. It also discusses different inherent principles of sustainable public procurement in the field of urban mobility such as life cycle costing and how these can be applied. In so doing, it points to relevant further guidance discussing specific issues and concepts.

Energy, transport and mobility are typically managed by different departments within a local authority. These areas rarely fall under the responsibility of the same political decision maker, making internal horizontal integration a difficult process. Energy, transport and mobility planning processes in themselves are often a challenge for local authorities, because these processes entail the participation of stakeholders and the local population, vertical integration with other governance levels and a long-term vision, trying to balance costs and benefits and to achieve and maintain consensus. As a result, local authorities often come up with individual separate sectoral policies and measures (urban planning, parking, cycling, public transport, production from renewables, energy efficiency in buildings, etc.), lacking a common strategic vision, and with poorly coordinated sectoral planning tools, to the extent that each plan seems to be going its own separate way. Coordination and integration in strategic planning is important for the effectiveness and efficiency of any local authority’s action. They will lead to economies of scale, harmonization and synergies between individual policies and measures. A harmonised approach resting upon a solid knowledge base, furthermore, offers political decision makers and technical officers crucial coordinated support for their actions. SIMPLA acts on this, offering a structured process and methodology addressed to lead the harmonisation of strategic sustainable energy, climate adaptations and mobility plans, coordinated with the main relevant local strategic documents.

In any sustainable urban planning process, it is important to consult with, and meet the needs of, vulnerable groups and others who have been traditionally disadvantaged and disenfranchised. This Practitioner Briefing introduces the concept of Social Impact Assessment (SIA). Following this, an overview of methods and tools is provided, which practitioners could use to plan and implement gender-and diversity-sensitive transport measures, with examples of how these methods have been applied in practice. SIA is introduced as an approach to improving inclusiveness in the design and operationalisation of sustainable transport measures, to ensure the voices of all stakeholders are heard and given equal value in the planning of mobility services. Traditionally, impact assessment has focused on quantifiable parameters and prioritised journeys undertaken by (mostly male) car owners or for commuting purposes. This has led to inequalities in transport provision which reinforce other inequalities leading to multiple levels of deprivation, reduction in opportunities (e.g. to access resources such as health, education, employment and recreational facilities) and poorer quality of life. Within SIA, transport is assessed in relation to the extent to which it enables a good quality of life to be achieved. For example, by providing citizens with equal opportunities to access resources and opportunities. Conducting SIA’s throughout the urban mobility planning process helps to ensure that plans meet the needs of all citizens and that no group is disadvantaged by new mobility measures. 

This topic guide on SULP development aims to provide authorities with a framework for a proper implementation of actions, in the context of the SUMP development, for efficiently addressing the challenges and achieving development of a sustainable urban logistics policy and plan which will result in the future sustainability expectations of a city being met. In an effort to provide practical support to readers, this document also provides the best practices of tools, methods and techniques that can be used in several of the 7 steps of the revised SUMP process, together with the measures and interventions for best practices.

This Topic Guide proposes best practice and key recommendations on the integration of micromobility devices in urban mobility planning, with the goal to achieve their safer use in urban areas. It focuses on shared electrically powered personal mobility devices such as e-scooters. It will also provide some guidance on how the users of these vehicles interact with the users of bicycles and electric power assisted cycles (EPACs), as well as pedestrians and other road users.

Car traffic in cities produces significant impacts: air pollution and noise emissions, traffic accidents, congestion and competition for land use are the consequences. In search of space-saving, sustainable transport solutions, the linkage of existing infrastructures with new mobility services is becoming increasingly important. In this light numerous sharing concepts have emerged in recent years, which have been developing dynamically ever since. This Topic Guide concentrates in particular on sharing services and the starting points for municipalities within a SUMP. It shows the steps in sustainable urban mobility planning when particular planning aspects must be taken into account while integrating sharing modes.

Public transport is a public good. It is an essential service, as pointed out in the European Pillar of Social Rights (principle 20), and delivers benefits in terms of transport efficiency, pollution reduction, the local and national economy, territorial accessibility and social inclusiveness. This Topic Guide highlights the ways in which cities can make public transport more attractive through SUMPs to trigger behavioural change in favour of public transport. The document also aims to increase the use of public transport in line with the priorities of the new EU Urban Mobility Framework and the European Green Deal.

Although effective parking management has proven to be beneficial in promoting sustainable urban mobility in our cities, it is still one of the most underdeveloped elements within Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP). In fact, good parking management can help free up valuable public space, which increases the attractiveness of cities, while supporting the local economy. Furthermore, managing the parking of private motor vehicles can also reduce traffic, improve congestion, road safety and air pollution. This topic guide is based on the outcomes of the Horizon 2020 project Park4SUMP (2018-2022) and focuses on the potential integration of parking management into SUMPs. The results are drawn from research in 14 EU countries and the experience of 16 partner cities in introducing/ adapting parking policies in their new and improved SUMPs with the help of ParkPAD, a new tool developed to support cities to implement good practices and innovative parking solutions.

In order to unlock its full potential, cycling must be made as easy and as safe as possible. Fearing for one’s physical integrity while sharing the road with dense motorised transport is a primary reason that puts people off from cycling. Among the key measures to address this concern is investment in safe cycling infrastructure while at the same time managing car use and speed. From the European experience of promoting cycling for the past 40 years, the following recommendation cannot be stressed enough: good cycling policy must always address demand for car use, for example through parking regulations or by avoiding through-traffic in inner cities or residential neighbourhoods. It is therefore imperative to fully embed cycling policies within a wider SUMP framework that aims at the overall improvement of the mobility system of a town or city.

The quality and amount of walking as an everyday activity, in any given area, is an established and unique primary indicator of the quality of life. Authorities keen to create healthier and more efficient communities and places can make significant advancements by simply supporting and encouraging more walking. This Practitioner Briefing is the result of collaboration with experts and practitioners throughout Europe and seeks to provide guidance on how to plan for walking and help create healthy, efficient and sustainable walking communities across the European Union.

Urban air mobility (UAM) is an ever-growing topic of discussions that goes beyond the boundaries of technological developments in the aviation industry as it has attracted the attention of mobility actors and local authorities as a means of contributing to sustainable and integrated mobility across cities and regions. This Practitioner Briefing has been developed by the UIC2, the Urban-Air-Mobility Initiative Cities Community, of the EU’s Smart Cities Marketplace. It introduces UAM as a complementary transport of smart mobility in smart cities in the context of responsible innovation for sustainable and integrated urban mobility, and it should be perceived as part of the wider Mobility Network Management (MNM) concept. It builds on the experience of pioneering European cities and regions that have been involved early on with the topic of urban air mobility and emphasises the importance of integrating UAM into the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) process.

As the integration of various forms of transport services into a single mobility service accessible on demand, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) may be a valuable ally for decision-makers and planners in cities to reach their mobility goals. Multimodal and user-centric by nature, MaaS may very well have the potential to provide an attractive and efficient alternative or addition to private car use and to promote a shift towards sustainable transport modes and a more efficient use of transport networks. For those cities willing to introduce MaaS in their areas, this practitioner briefing provides the elements to understand what MaaS is, to assess the readiness of their city and to explore possible operational and governance options and models.

Mobility management is a concept to promote sustainable transport and manage the demand for car use by changing travellers’ attitudes and behaviour, in particular at the level of companies, organisations and institutions. Mobility management measures usually promote and improve the attractiveness of using public transport, cycling, walking, carsharing, flexible working or a combination of these as alternatives to drive-alone journeys. It should be considered as a dynamic process where a package of measures and campaigns are identified, piloted and monitored on an on-going basis. This Topic Guide highlights the ways in which cities can better integrate mobility management for both public and private organisations into Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), to trigger behavioural change of residents and employees from individual car use to sustainable modes of transport. The document reflects the concepts of SUMPs as outlined by the European Commission’s Urban Mobility Package and described in the second edition of SUMP guidelines, as well as the concept of mobility management proposed by EPOMM (European Platform on Mobility Management).

Urban Vehicle Access Regulations (UVARs) can be broadly defined as ‘measures to regulate motor vehicular access to urban infrastructure’. As such, several techniques and typologies have been adopted across urban areas to regulate vehicles‘ access to urban infrastructure. This document describes to an audience of urban transport professionals and planners how to relate UVARs to processes in Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). 

The transformation of urban mobility systems causes financial costs for the procurement and operation of innovative products and services and for the adaptation of existing infrastructure. While public budgets are limited, investments in infrastructure and transport services compete against other spending priorities, and private investors often are reluctant to invest into sustainable transport projects. Thus, cities need to seek additional funding and financing options and to develop business models to attract private sector investments in the development of the urban transport system. Moreover, financing schemes should cover the entire SUMP cycle, starting from planning, to project implementation and procurement up to the operation and maintenance of services and infrastructures. This Topic Guide supports urban transport practitioners and other stakeholders identifying funding and financing options for the development of SUMPs, the implementation of measures, and the operation of transport services.

Mobility issues are increasingly important all over the world in today’s fast-growing urban areas and particularly in Europe. At the same time the supply of mobility services, especially in densely populated areas, is continuously increasing as well as citizens demand a more reliable, flexible, easily accessible, multimodal and finally more personalised travel experience. Although European investments in new transport infrastructures over the past decades have been massive the benefits for urban mobility and liveability in cities are still limited, while the challenges are growing in magnitude and complexity. Today, urban areas require solutions based on new instruments that address user behaviour, connect different networks and optimise transport systems as a whole, and complement new infrastructure. This Topic Guide provides planners and decision makers with an integrated overview of the essential measures and considerations regarding the use of ITS in the SUMP process. In this framework, ITS should be considered to have three roles related to mobility planning

Urban road traffic and the use of conventionally-fuelled vehicles account for a large part of the harmful emissions of air pollutants, greenhouse gases and noise. These problems are a major concern for many European local authorities as they have a severe impact on public health and cause thousands of deaths; contribute to climate change; and undermine the quality of life in our cities. To decrease these emissions, mobility planning authorities need to promote and enable a shift towards collective, shared and active mobility modes. Electric vehicles for the transport of both passengers and goods have the potential to substantially cut emissions from road transport. The aim of this Topic Guide is to guide mobility planning authorities in the process of how the electrification of road transport can be carried out in accordance with the eight main SUMP principles following the different steps of the SUMP cycle.