Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary-General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) has released a blog to the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2018 to show that the active collaboration of both the private sector and civil society, including the public transport sector, alongside governments and administration, needs to be encouraged to create more resilient and sustainable societies through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Urban mobility is at a crossroads. Decision makers can no longer envision the future of transport the way it has been up until a few years ago, prioritising private car ownership over collective, accessible and inclusive transportation. Governments of all levels are coming to the conclusion that the modal share of transport has to be positively inclined towards public transport, walking and cycling if we are to succeed in creating more resilient and sustainable cities.
Citizens need mobility champions to rise to the challenges. As the only network to bring together all sustainable transport modes, the UITP has set up a new platform, in collaboration with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), to support local decision makers in adopting and developing more sustainable transport systems. Inspired by the UITP Declaration on Climate Leadership, the Mobility Champions Community is building on the best practices in terms of deployment of clean vehicles, increased public transport supply, combined and active mobility, as well as energy efficiency to help leaders adopt policies that will bring us ever closer to reaching the SDGs.
Concrete solutions exist and the public transport actors are leading the charge to implement them in their daily activities. In fact, operators, manufacturers and authorities have been at the forefront of sustainable and accessible urban mobility for decades now.The time has come to take bold measures leading the transition to more accessible zero-emission mobility solutions for all. It has already begun in many cities and regions, but more needs to be done to offer all populations transport solutions that will meet their expectations and needs.
The full blog is available at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2018/blog#06july.
