This document provides guidance on a specific topic related to Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP). It is based on the concept of SUMP, as outlined by the European Commission’s Urban Mobility Package2 and described in detail in the European SUMP Guidelines (second edition)3. Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning is a strategic and integrated approach for dealing with the complexity of urban transport. Its core goal is to improve accessibility and quality of life by achieving a shift towards sustainable mobility. SUMP advocates for fact-based decision making guided by a longterm vision for sustainable mobility. As key components, this requires a thorough assessment of the current situation and future trends, a widely supported common vision with strategic objectives, and an integrated set of regulatory, promotional, financial, technical and infrastructure measures to deliver the objectives – whose implementation should be accompanied by reliable monitoring and evaluation. In contrast to traditional planning approaches, SUMP places particular emphasis on the involvement of citizens and stakeholders, the coordination of policies between sectors (transport, land use, environment, economic development, social policy, health, safety, energy, etc.), and a broad cooperation across different layers of government and with private actors.
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, named the ‘Active Travel’. 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.
The primary target audience for this Topic Guide are practitioners with a broad variation in their level of expertise in relation to mobility and planning, not academics. The group of practitioners includes both policy makers and planners working in the field of urban transport, as well as consultants that support them.
In this Topic Guide we provide general guidance on how to integrate road safety into all eight principles of sustainable urban mobility planning and implementation. In a later stage a range of good practice examples will be added as a key component of the guidance material.
