ICLEI Members Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country), Bremen (German) and Stockholm (Sweden) have been highlighted by the European Commission’s CIVITAS Initiative as sustainable mobility leaders. Their work is showcased in a new publication the shares success stories in the thematic areas of “boosting innovation uptake”, and “supporting” e-mobility. These ICLEI Members are among a small group of just five cities whose successes are highlighted, demonstrating the ambition of ICLEI Members.

Vitoria-Gasteiz’s success story demonstrates that innovation goes far beyond just technology alone. Rather, the city explored how parking mangement could be used in innovative ways to reach a variety of goals. They showed that clever parking regulations can increase cycling and change modal splits (i.e. what proportion of trips are done using different modes of transport, like by car, by bike, by public transportation, etc.). Read their story here.

To encourage the use of e-vehicles, Bremen met residents where they spend their time: at home and at work. They partnered with companies to install charging infrastructure in company parking lots, and introduced e-vehicle car sharing in a new residential neighbourhood. The pilots were so successful that they have continued and been integrated into the city’s larger mobility system. Get the details here.

Home care services in Stockholm – i.e. assistance provided primarily to the elderly in their homes – are implemented both by city staff and by private providers. The city set-out to electrify both municipal and private providers’ fleets. To do so, they chose five districts in which to pilot step-by-step replacement of conventional vehicles with e-vehicles, installed charging facilities, and evaluated the pilot success. The results were clear: when asked to compare the vehicles, 85% of those who drove e-vehicles for this pilot recommended them; 80% only had to charge them once per day, meaning that charging did not disrupt their work; they rated the vehicles easy to drive, silent and comfortable; and saw it as a time-saving advantage that they could be “re-fuelled” while parked in their ordinary parking spot. Read more about this work here.

These are three of the five success showcased in the new publication. Read the publication in full here.