Sustainable Transport at Local Municipalities Project

Choosing a mean of transport is highly dependent on the urban fabric at the points of departure and the destination of each trip, especially within cities. Wide sidewalks, streets which are pleasant-to-walk, and accessibility to active public transport routes are part of the favored recipe for a vibrant city with sustainable transport systems. The critical components in this framework lie within the domain of local municipalities. Those municipalities that promote systems complementary to public transport services succeed in creating a vibrant city with continued development and keep their social and environmental values intact.

The Sustainable Transport at Local Municipalities Project is aimed at encouraging initiatives and comprehensive planning by the municipalities, which will lead to choices complementing decisions made at the national level by Ministry of Transportation and private bodies such as public transport operators. Mayors often feel that they cannot do as they please. In this project we are increasing the opportunities for promoting a systematic sustainable approach from within the local municipalities.

This project consists of the following activities:

• The Sustainable Transportation in Israel Contest invites heads of Municipalities, Regional Councils, and Local Councils to publicly present transport plans for future projects. The projects will propose solutions that are not based on private cars usage and new road building, but rather promote the use of public transport, walking, cycling, shifting commuting habits, making the use of private cars more efficient or others. Amongst the 3 winners of the contest, a total award of 2,000,000 NIS will be shared, designated for the implementation of the presented projects. The winning projects, along with other top projects, will enjoy mass media exposure and be presented to the public and leading experts in both the contest`s grand finale event and through a public exhibition.
• MUNICIPAL COMPETITION ON SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT (Environmental E-Bulletin, Nov. 2003, Issue 4
• Sustainable Transport Course- 15 meetings for city engineers, planners, people in charge of sustainable development, as well as representatives of resident’ groups interested in promoting sustainable transport in their cities.
• Assisting local groups in promoting activities aimed at improving public transport, promoting bike routes, reducing parking areas and more.

Transport Today & Tomorrow’s advantage in this project is our acquaintance with decision makers who are influential at the national and local levels. We use our professional knowledge to assist local municipalities in producing plans appropriate to the concept of sustainable transport, suitable at the statutory level for budgeting and implementation, and that are in correlation with the priorities of the Ministry of Transportation.