Page 46 - European Energy Innovation - summer 2019 publication

46 Summer 2019 European Energy Innovation
URBAN MOBILITY
Advancing our cities with
electromobility
By Umberto Guida, Senior Director, Knowledge and Innovation, UITP
UITP is the International
Association of Public
Transport. We are a
passionate champion
of sustainable urban mobility and
as the only worldwide network to
bring together all public transport
stakeholders and all sustainable
transport modes, we work alongside
our more than 1,700 members in
100 countries to advance the
global sector.
How we move around our cities is
extremely important and as more
people choose urban living, we must
continue to advocate for the best
space, access and liveability possible. with the top ranking achieved in
Since 1885, UITP and our international
members have made mobility a top
priority, showing the many ways
in which public transport betters
our lives.
As the Senior Director of UITP’s
Knowledge and Innovation
department I oversee an informed,
passionate and innovative team who
make it their priority to advance the
sector on a daily basis.
Our knowledge and innovation teams
work on various different tasks to do
this; including managing committees
and commissions, alongside our
global membership, and on European
research projects that focus on
sector development.
With more than 50 projects ongoing,
UITP has been a leading partner
in a wide range of EU-funded
research projects for many years,
with the European Commission
recognising UITP as a key interlocutor The rise of electric buses around
in promoting public transport
stakeholders’ priorities for research
and innovation. In 2018, UITP
was delighted to be recognised
the Horizon 2020 official statistics.
This achievement was a sign of
the internationally recognised role
the association plays in the field of
Transport Research and Innovation.
The European Commission updated
their H2020 statistics for the
period 2014-2017 and UITP ranked
first for transport research in all
of Belgium and second in Belgian
NGOs for European Union funds for
research with 21 projects.
It’s always important to promote
the work UITP and our members
carry out to advance the sector
and an invitation to contribute to
European Energy Innovation Magazine
is most welcome.
Energy, and the changes that are
occurring in the field, are directly
relatable to the work being
undertaken by UITP. The public
transport sector has undergone
many changes over the past few
years in modernising modes and
usage to deal with climate issues
and environmental impacts. The
public transport sector can lead on
this and UITP advocates for a better
understanding of what we can do, by
partnering and working with many
important bodies and voices.
The challenges, obstacles and
opportunities to deliver an effective
electromobility system in Europe
have been increasing over the
years. UITP has remained at the
forefront of these developments.
the world continues to develop, as
electromobility advances. It’s safe
to say that public transport can, and
does, lead the way on electromobility.
Electrification is widely considered
as a viable strategy for reducing oil
dependency and the environmental
impact of road transportation, but
more needs to be done to make it
a reality. Electromobility cannot be
considered as a separate chapter
of urban mobility. Pollution and
congestion are the most burning
problems of cities today and we
need to think globally to tackle
them both, otherwise we will get
stuck in a silent and emission-free
traffic jam. Increasing the share of
public transport, which is already
largely electrified thanks to light rail
or metro, as well as relatively new
electric buses, will ease congested
streets and drastically reduce
pollution.
The research projects carried out at
UITP address these issues and the
changes needed to develop.
The ELIPTIC project - Electrification
of Public Transport in Cities – was a
project that aimed to develop new
concepts and business cases in
order to optimise existing electric
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu