The Swedish Energy Agency has granted six million Swedish crowns for a new mobility service to be launched in Linköping. Eight stakeholders will collaborate to build a user friendly digital platform which aims to increase the use of sustainable mobility services. An app will make it easy for the citizens of Linköping to have a comprehensive view of the supply of both public transport offerings and the available shared modes of mobility. It will also become easier to choose between and pay for the shared mobility choices.
The project will focus on new mobility solutions which people will use to be mobile within the city. The new service will gather different mobility options and tailor a trip according to the user’s needs. The app will include route planning, booking, ticketing, payment and real time information on, for example, shared bikes, rental cars, shared cars and public transport. By making the combining of different mobility modes easier the city will become more accessible, the available resources will be used more effectively and at the same time it will contribute to the city’s goal of being carbon dioxide neutral by 2025.
Linköping is the first Swedish municipality and one of the first parties in the world to grasp the whole concept called MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service) at city level. This is a unique project which can become a template and a model for different cities around the world.
The project is a collaboration between Linköping municipality, the public transportation company, some of the municipality owned companies, some private companies, the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute and other stakeholders.
Coordinated distribution of goods in Linköping municipality
Coordinated distribution is a logistics solution to streamline freight transport by coordination of goods on route to the same geographical area. Municipal goods suitable for coordination are food and consumables (e.g. office materials, teaching materials, IT materials, healthcare materials, etc.). Suppliers transport their goods to a distribution center where the municipality takes over the local distribution (example of so-called supply-chain management). The project comprises goods within Linköping municipal organization. The project was preceded by a feasibility study before a procurement process for the distribution center and local distribution commenced. Different product groups have gradually been added to the new distribution process since then.
The project is beneficial to residents all around the city, less transports improves the traffic situation for all road users and a healthier situation. Schools and day care centers make up a large part of the municipality organization. Therefore children and pupils in particular benefit from less transports to these facilities, also parents taking their children to school. The work environment improves for municipality employees. It is also easier to set work environment requirements on the logistic company with one supplier of the service. Local food producers, smaller suppliers and logistic companies are enabled to compete in public purchasing when transport costs for the final part of the distribution chain is allocated per distributed item. The environment benefits from less air pollutants and particles from road discharge. The climate impact decreases. Other stakeholders may be other regional actors with which the municipality cooperates.
Green Travel Plans in Linköping
Linköping municipality is currently working with several Green Travel Plans for larger work areas. This is done in collaboration with employers and property owners. The Green Travel Plans are part of Linköping municipality’s work towards being carbon neutral in 2025. A Green Travel Plan is an action plan including measures for more sustainable and efficient commuting to a workplace cluster. Business trips are also included. The overall purpose is to decrease carbon emissions, while also creating better accessibility through reducing traffic congestions.
Green Travel Plans aim to achieve more sustainable travel patterns by reducing single user car travel to and from workplaces, promoting and facilitating walking and cycling, increasing travel by public transport and shared transports such as car pooling and promoting alternative (non-fossil) fuels such as electricity and biogas. Most of the measures in the Green Travel Plans are about facilitating changes in behaviour and nudging towards using more sustainable travel modes.
There are six Green Travel Plans in Linköping comprising total of more than 30 000 commuters. Since 2015 there is a Green Travel Plan for all those employed by the municipality organisation. During 2017 – 2020 the work with a Green Travel Plan for Science Park Mjärdevi is ongoing. A project partly funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, in collaboration with participating parties, is currently underway to put four new Green Travel Plans in Linköping in place. In addition to these six local Green Travel Plans, the regional care organisation Region Östergötland (the regional health care organisation) has Green Travel Plans for their 13 – 14 000 employees in the region since 2012.