Activities of Vlad GHEORGHE related to 2021/2075(INI)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on the challenges for urban areas in the post-COVID-19 era
Amendments (17)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that lockdown has had a considerable impact on mobility demand and the choice of transport mode, especially in urban areas; notes that the social distancing introduced as part of sanitary measures in the EU has led citizens to take up mobility options other than public transport in order to avoid gatherings of people, leading also to an increasing use of private cars and the increase in CO2 emissions related to this;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. - 1a. Underlines that urban areas are home to nearly three quarters of the EU’s population which has led to an increased demand for urban mobility resulting in safety issues, severe congestion, poor air quality, noise emissions and high levels of CO2 emissions;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. -1b. Points out that the transport sector has been among the most severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, stresses however that the transport sector has played a vital role in maintaining essential connectivity and in delivering the critical goods and services;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. StressesBelieves that COVID-19 crisis has shown the need for new urban planning and mobility solutions in order to make urban areas more resilient and adaptable to mobility demand and it should be an occasion to reduce transport congestion and greenhouse emissions; stresses, in this respect, the need for local authorities to reengineer public transport in order to ensure safe, healthy and environmentally sustainable commuting options and to complement public transport with on- demand and shared transport services, as well as to adapt the infrastructure and reorganise the management of space to include active mobility and sustainable freight;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need for local authorities to reengineer public transport in order to ensure safe, healthy and environmentally sustainable commuting options and to complement public transport with on-demand and shared transport services; stresses, in this regard, the particular role of guided transport, a social mode of mass transport which is compatible with demanding health control standards;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for a revision of the Commission guidelines on developing and implementing sustainable urban mobility plans to include a new objective to improve the resilience of mobility systems in case of rapid fluctuations in mobility demandRecalls that the EU has actively promoted the concept of sustainable urban mobility planning for several years and is committed to supporting national, regional and local authorities during the process of developing and implementing Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans(SUMPs), including through funding instruments and technical expertise; calls for a revision of the Commission guidelines on developing and implementing sustainable urban mobility plans to include a new objective to improve the resilience of mobility systems in case of rapid fluctuations in mobility demand; calls furthermore to include provisions on reinforced cooperation, information exchange and sharing of best practices among municipalities to improve public and private transport management and increase the level of satisfaction of transport users in urban areas;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the Commission to come up with proposals, in its upcoming revised Urban Mobility Package, to accelerate the digitalisation of urban mobility, in order to deploy Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and to ensure the introduction of digital ticketing payments, integrated tickets, digitalisation of operations, such as touchless buttons and the sharing of real- time mobility flows;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recognises that urban logistics are an essential public service; calls on local authorities to develop dedicated sustainable urban logistics plans that integrate freight into the planning of more dynamic and flexible uses of curb space; calls for a reflection on the use of urban transport vehicle fleets for other uses related to urban logistics, in particular at night; stresses, furthermore, the potential in urban areas of using cargo bikes, which are energy-efficient and can relieve road congestion;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recognises that urban logistics are an essential public service, such as postal, delivery vehicles and garbage trucks, are an essential public service which increased demand requires new space for more frequent and safe stops of logistics operators; calls on local authorities to develop dedicated sustainable urban logistics plans, including clear policies on loading and unloading area, that integrate freight into the planning of more dynamic and flexible uses of curb space;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to engage with cities and Member States to ensure that all large cities that are urban nodes on the TEN-T network put in place their own sustainable urban mobility plans by 2030 and believes that the Commission should support also all other local authorities that are willing to do so; urges moreover the Commission to propose legislation requiring Member States to collect and submit regularly relevant data on urban mobility;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Recalls that for the 2014-2020 period, the EU, provided some €16.5 billion for urban mobility, mainly for clean transport (metro and tramway), but also for cycle paths and intelligent transport systems; stresses such EU- funded projects should always be based on comprehensive multi-annual urban mobility strategies;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States and local authorities to reassess their investments in urban mobility and to give priority to digital infrastructure that will improve the general experience of all passengers, including people with reduced mobility, and be adapted to the post- COVID-19 needs of transport workers;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Recalls that the urban tourism has played an essential part in creating the design for urban policies; points out that most of EU cities that have suffered from tourism’s drawbacks following the outbreak of the pandemic and they had to search for new and more sustainable modi operandi to restore tourism, leading to an intense use of new digital technologies, that have allowed to better manage urban spaces and the movement of the urban tourists in order to prevent the formation of large groups and risky situations in the context of pandemic;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Reiterates that sustainable development and the management of urban tourism need to be fully integrated into the wider urban agenda and calls on the Commission to take tourism into account when drawing the new Urban Mobility Package.
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Considers that ensuring better accessibility to public space for people with reduced mobility should be a priority in public road planning policies; warns, in this regard, of the degradation caused by free-floating scooters being dumped on public roads;
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Recalls that, in terms of volume, cities are the main locations for European tourism; stresses, therefore, the need to plan the mobility offer with specific services for travel related to tourism and other services for everyday mobility;
Amendment 129 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Notes the widespread use of restricted traffic areas in European cities as a means of limiting air pollution; calls for further development of urban and shared mobility to compensate for the use of private cars in cities.