On 6 May, a Joint Open Letter from key transport organisations was signed, urging prioritizing public transport within the upcoming EU financial period. ERTICO works closely with signatories UITP, POLIS, and Eurocities to achieve these goals in the JULIA, SHOW and EBRT projects. Through further collaboration and innovation, we foster a future where public transport is sustainable, inclusive, and seamlessly integrated with other modes.
In the run-up to the upcoming European elections, several transport organizations have urged the EU to prioritize public transport in a Joint Open Letter emphasizing the sector’s vital role in daily commutes and achieving broader economic, social, and environmental objectives.
In the letter EMTA, EPTO, Eurocities, IRU, POLIS and UITP propose several key actions for the next EU funding period. These include prioritizing public transport by recognizing its strategic importance in urban mobility, enacting supportive policies, and establishing a declaration highlighting its benefits. Streamlined collaboration between all stakeholders is essential for effective urban mobility policies, and sufficient funding needs to be allocated for new technologies, infrastructure projects, and digitalization.
ERTICO initiatives on Urban Mobility
As a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Urban Mobility (EGUM), ERTICO fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange between EU member states, local authorities, and other stakeholders. This collaborative spirit extends to its projects, where ERTICO partners with organisations like UITP, POLIS, and Eurocities, signatories to the public transport Joint Open Letter.
One such project is JULIA. Coordinated by FACTUAL Consulting and funded by EUSPA, it brings together key industry players like POLIS as a consortium partner and UITP on the Advisory Board. JULIA is developing a Transit Tech Operating System to optimise bus and train fleet availability, efficiency, and passenger comfort. The project focuses on showcasing the added value of European GNSS (Galileo) for positioning and Copernicus data for air quality estimation in enhancing public transport adoption, with pilots across ten sites in Spain, Slovenia, and Greece to validate the developed technology.
Other projects in which ERTICO works with UITP, POLIS or Eurocities to enhance public transport are SHOW, focused on the deployment of shared, connected and electrified automation in urban transport and EBRT2030, which is advancing the deployment of electric, automated, and connected Bus Rapid Transit systems for sustainable urban transportation.
ERTICO’s vision extends beyond individual projects, aspiring to create a holistic and connected urban mobility ecosystem which integrates data, transport modes, traffic management and stakeholders. This vision is embodied through initiatives like City Moonshot, which fosters understanding of cities and regions’ mobility efforts and MaaS Alliance, which strives to achieve seamless integration of Mobility as a Service.
