An update of Aberdeen’s involvement in the European-wide Civitas Portis transportation project has been given to a conference in the seaport city of Trieste in Italy.
The Lord Provost of Aberdeen Barney Crockett attended the three-day event representing Aberdeen City Council and its partners for the project which is worth £3.2m to the North-east and involves a consortium of council, university and private partners aimed at improving travel in the area.
The Civitas Portis European Union grant is being used to examine transport solutions with a connection with port operations, supporting sustainable urban mobility through changes in behaviour and the attitudes of citizens, planners, politicians and industries.
It will also help address social inclusion and provide opportunities for economic growth.
The partners for the project also include Aberdeenshire Council, Nestrans, The Robert Gordon University, the University of Aberdeen, and Aberdeen Harbour Board.
The main goals for the conference in Trieste was to studying mobility through the development of a SUMP (sustainable urban mobility plan), create a shared transport information platform and a single governance to manage the urban mobility, and share experiences and exchange ideas.
The Lord Provost said: “We gave our European partners updates on projects including the A96 Park and Ride, examining smart transport systems, and how people travel around the city after the AWPR opens, and it was good to see how interested other cities were with our approach and progress so far.
“We encourage people to think about using alternative forms of transport such as walking or cycling, and we’re also working hard to look at existing and future transport infrastructure needs for the city and wider area.
”We need to continue to work hard and make new IT transportation systems meet the pace of change and work best for Aberdeen, its people and its port.”
Civitas Portis is aiming to make a positive impact on five European port cities - Aberdeen, Trieste, Antwerp in Belgium, Constance in Romania, and Klaipeda in Lithuania.
The solutions include innovative approaches for sustainable urban mobility and social and functional connections between city centres and ports using for example digital technologies which will improve both governance methods and the information provided to the citizens as well as the access to new, services, already available or to be invented.
Civitas Portis has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, and it started on September 11, 2016 and finishes on August 31, 2020.