Towards Sustainable Urban Transport (INTERREG IIIB Baltic Sea Region Programme)

BUSTRIP was focussed on the need to break the link between growth in economic production and the consequent growth in transport, with all its adverse environmental consequences. Following the adoption of the Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment within the 6th Environmental Action Plan of the European Union, BUSTRIP was uniquely positioned to show European cities how to deliver sustainable transport whilst generating economic growth.

It is acknowledged that economic growth leads to intensive transport growth, congestion and traffic jams in cities, resulting in the weakening of the quality of life and causing considerable environmental impacts. The 30 month project was approved by the Baltic Sea Region INTERREG III B Programme and the project activities started in late summer of 2005.

The EU Commission Communication on the Thematic Strategy for the Urban Environment confirmed the preparation of Sustainable Urban Transport Plans (SUTP) as an important cornerstone in the de-coupling of economic growth and transport growth in cities. The EU Expert Working Group 2004 on Sustainable Urban Transport Plans defined the European SUTP concept. BUSTRIP was one of the first European projects to test, further develop and implement the concept in concrete terms. Thus the core objective of the BUSTRIP project was to develop in extensive city/peer co-operation SUTPs in 11 cities and one regional authority in BSR that were in different stages of their transport planning. By doing this, the project aimed at improving the state of the urban environment and reducing urban sprawl, traffic and pollution.

BUSTRIP produced a SUTP toolbox of techniques, collecting all the learning experiences and best practice from the partner cities. This toolbox is now assisting European cities in understanding SUTP and the work they need to carry out to move towards sustainable urban transport. The project started in July 2005 and ended in December 2007.

BUSTRIP Partners

BUSTRIP was coordinated by UBC Environment and Agenda 21 Secretariat. Two other core partners were the UBC Commission on Transportation and Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg. The 11 partner cities and one regional authority were Bremen (DE), Gdynia (PL), Göteborg (S), Kaunas (LT), Kouvola Region (FIN), Liepaja (LV), Pärnu (EE), Sundsvall (S), Tartu (EE), Turku (FIN), Vilnius (LT) and Örebro (S).

BUSTRIP was co-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund) within the BSR INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme and by the Finnish Ministry of Environment.

More information at www.bustrip-project.net

---