More Walking and Cycling to Tackle Traffic Jams

How do decision makers think about and approach congestion reduction in their cities?

To find the answer to this question, the project "Furthering Less Congestion by Creating Opportunities for More Walking and Cycling" – FLOW – has launched a survey aimed at decision makers in transport policy from the local, regional, national and European levels. Political decision makers, such as MEPs, Ministers or (vice-) Mayors, and technical decision makers, such as Heads of Transport or Spatial Planning Units, are warmly invited to respond to the FLOW survey. The participation in the survey is possible until the 31st of December and takes up to 15 minutes. The survey aims to reflect years of experience of its participants to develop measures of reducing urban congestion.

In contemporary traffic flow modelling, the effects of motorised means of transport are analytically well detectable. The FLOW project, which commenced in May 2015, managed to put walking and cycling on an equal footing so that they establish factors that can be integrated into traffic flow analysis. In doing so the project wants to raise awareness of the economical advantages of walking and cycling. FLOW also actively supports local measures and products, which encourage the use of non-motorised means of transport.

Scientists of the Research Unit Mobility and International Cooperation of the Wuppertal Institute played a key role in developing the FLOW-Method to analysing the effect of walking and cycling on urban congestion. They additionally support a campaign that promotes cycling in Sofia while modelling a traffic flow analysis of the city. The FLOW project is funded by Horizon 2020, the EU programme for research and innovation. The results of the FLOW survey will be published in early 2018.