Politicians about Trendsetter and the future
Lille, France Trendsetter has further motivated us
In 2000, as the European Commission launched the Civitas programme, Lille Metropole had just adopted ambitious policies for the ten next years, including the Urban Mobility Plan, the Local Safety Plan and the purchase of 100 new biogas buses, with the target of a 100 per cent clean public transport service.
The dynamics of Trendsetter in the cities of Graz, Pécs, Prague and Stockholm is a further motivation for our local and regional partners involved in the tricky but exciting challenge to create sustainable urban mobility. Our political commitment is to implement the Kyoto protocol objectives on the local level, as the world needs every city to contribute. Each partner in Trendsetter has made a tremendous effort.
In 2005, Lille Metropole has implemented the expected measures related to fare integration, public transport security, intermodality through adapted infrastructures, public transport efficiency through dedicated operation schemes, clean vehicle operation and biogas production and fuelling.
This has of course benefited Lille Metropole, but we have also made fruitful exchanges with our colleagues from other cities.
Eric Quiquet
Vice-President of Lille Metropole
in charge of urban transport
Stockholm, SwedenCities are key actors
"Trendsetter has proved that cities are key actors and that their work is crucial for improving the environment.
Stockholm has shown that ambitious investments such as traffic management and congestion charging make a big difference, but also that small and inexpensive measures such as bus priority systems can make important contributions.
In Trendsetter, Stockholm also shows that a combination of carrots and sticks is an efficient way of making people change their behaviour, and has resulted in 3,000 clean vehicles sold to private companies.
I am proud that Stockholm is part of Civitas, and I believe that Stockholm's experience can easily be transferred to other cities. The Civitas initiative has made this possible, and the exchange and experience shared among the Trendsetter cities is very valuable for the future.
The many fruitful contacts will lead to further exchange and facilitate further European co-operation. Trendsetter has also improved internal cooperation within our city."
Viviann Gunnarsson
Vice mayor in Stockholm
Graz, AustriaCIVITAS has got things moving
The city of Graz was among the first in Austria to participate in EU-programmes. CIVITAS is one more link in a chain of successful EU-programmes - this time in the field of transport and environment.
The CIVITAS-initiative has shown that joint action among cities can get things moving within Europe. On the one hand, we can learn many things from our partner cities, and on the other hand, Graz has gathered a lot of experience that it can share with other cities. In the field of clean vehicles we have shown - within the framework of CIVITAS - that not only is it possible to operate the whole public transport fleet with 100% biodiesel processed from used cooking oil, but also to run taxis on biodiesel - lowering environmental impact and CO2 emissions.
In the field of soft measures, Graz is also a pioneer: both mobility management for companies and schools and a fully integrated mobility centre are good examples.
Many measures would not have been possible without the participation and support from the CIVITAS programme, and as councillor I must say that the city of Graz has certainly profited from CIVITAS.
[fet:Gerhard Rüsch]
City Councillor of Graz, Transport and Urban Planning
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