Murcia wins the 2015 European Mobility Week Award

The European Mobility Week (EMW) for 2015 was held under the banner of ‘Smart and sustainable mobility – an investment for Europe’. The EMW Award is presented to the local authority that is judged to have done the most to raise awareness of sustainable mobility during European Mobility Week.

To apply for the award, local authorities must have implemented the three criteria and signed the Charter. After which an independent panel of experts, receives three-minute videos in both English and their native language highlighting the achievements of the participant city, after which the winners are chosen.

Murcia (Spain) has been announced as the winner of the EMW Award 2015. The Murcian delegation received the award from Commissioner Karmenu Vella, responsible for the Environment, at the award ceremony which was held in the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Brussels (Belgium), where Murcia was congratulated for taking steps to promote active modes of travel such as walking and cycling.

The reason Murcia had been selected as a finalist is its focus on bikes and public transport, which lined perfectly with the theme of multimodality. The city has an innovative approach to intermodal e-mobility, complete with e-bikes and e-scooters, which have found a following among the residents. Also, Murcia has a good strategy for rewarding best practice in commuter travel, with a public transport loyalty scheme. And people with reduced mobility receive special attention. The Mayor of Murcia José Ballesta Germán and several politicians have attended breakfast meetings with residents to address these issues.

Murcia also celebrated a Car-Free Day and tested the planned pedestrianisation of one of the city’s main streets. A total of 6,000 people participated in the Car-Free Day events. The permanent measures implemented by the city include: bike racks on buses; folded bikes allowed on buses; opening bus lanes for cyclists; and the extension of paid parking zones.

Taking the stand, Mr Vella praised all who take part in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK pointing out that it is the citizens who are the real winners. He also stressed the need for more collaboration to achieve sustainable mobility objectives, saying: “we need to act together and on many fronts. We need to increase active transport, car-sharing and green public transport”.

Murcia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ToresSpfbY

EMW16: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPFe5sBFGXQ