The Guidelines on Developing and Implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) were published in January 2014 and present the concept of benefits of these plans as a new planning paradigm. Also, they describe and explain essential steps, as well as the development and implementation activities of such a plan. Moreover, the document comprises references to instruments and additional information sources, as well as over 60 examples from Europe which illustrate the way in which individual activities (from the development plan) have been implemented.
The guidelines are the results of works carried out by the European Commission and the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI) within a service agreement from 2010-2013. In fact, the objective of these guidelines is to accelerate, on large scale, the sustainable urban mobility plans with the help of the guidelines, awareness activities and training seminars.
In contrast with the traditional approaches of transport planning, the new concept emphasizes the implication of citizens and interested parties, the coordination of policies between sectors (transport, use of space, environment, economic development, energy etc.) between the levels of authorities and between the authorities close to the segment. For the urban area, SUMP requires a sustainable and long-term vision while considering the societal benefits and costs in order to internalize costs and underlines the importance of evaluation.
The document presents 4 phases with 11 steps which include 32 “activities”. They should be adopted as part of a regular planning cycle for a continuous optimisation process. A SUMP proposes to create an urban transport system by approaching several objectives, among which “making sure that all citizens have transport options, increase safety and security, reducing emissions and pollution, optimising efficiency and transport costs and increasing the attractiveness and the quality of environment and urban design”.
Also, a SUMP has a much more efficient approach of urban transport problems, resulting in a structural process which comprises an analysis, a vision, objectives, policies, monitoring and evaluation. Starting from the existing practices and regulatory frameworks, the basic characteristics of a SUMP concerns the adoption of a long-term vision and of a clear implementation plan, participative approach, the fair and integrated development of all transport modes, the vertical and horizontal integration, as well as paying attention to external costs for all transport modes.
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