MobiTour – Sustainable mobility of cross-border coastal and hinterland tourist areas

Priority Axis 2: Cooperating for implementation of low carbon strategies and action plans
Specific Objective: OS 2.1.
Investment Priority: PI 4e
Typology: Standard

Project website and socials

Overall Objective of the Project:
The overall goal of the project is to promote the joint design of sustainable multimodal urban mobility models in cross-border tourist areas, in order to encourage the use of alternative means of transport and render the area more attractive to tourists, while at the same time decreasing pollution, thanks to a better connection between the coastal area and the hinterland. This is linked to the program’s goal of the joint planning of low-carbon mobility.

Project summary:
The program area includes numerous tourist towns like Caorle, Lignano, and Portorož on the coast, and Lipica and the Škocjanske jame Park in the karst hinterland, which suffer from congested mobility in the summertime due to the exponential increase in the number of tourists. The challenge is to effectively reduce vehicle emissions by improving urban and sustainable low-carbon mobility in the cross-border area, while at the same time ensuring better access to tourist areas. The overall objective is the joint design of sustainable mobility plans to stimulate the use of alternative means of transport and to reduce pollution, while at the same time ensuring better accessibility between the coastal areas and the hinterland. The result will be the introduction of new urban mobility plans and the development of pilot measures, with the behavioural patterns of tourists and residents being influenced in such a way as to improve the knowledge and use of the new sustainable mobility services.

The outputs are as follows: 

• 5 “park&drive” pilot systems involving the acquisition of electric vehicles and the installation of charging stations at smart car parks;
• 3 Urban sustainable mobility plans – USMPs (Lignano, Caorle, and Piran) and 2 Sustainable Mobility Plans (LP and Lipica) for the benefit of tourists, residents of urban and rural areas, local administrations, and SMEs.

The approach involves the engagement of the local authorities, in order to encourage coordinated and sustainable planning, the citizens, in order to stimulate the conscientious use of public transport and electric vehicles, and tourists, in order to reduce congestion and pollution during peak periods. The project becomes a cross-border effort in the sense that it creates a network of the areas with the greatest tourist presence, thus increasing the effectiveness of the environmental measures adopted. The innovation for the area consists of the development of sustainable mobility plans that will help to reduce pollution and promote green and active tourism, which in turn will improve the quality of life and tourism appeal of the entire area.

Main results:
The result of the project will be an increased use of low emission vehicles at tourist destinations along the coast, and connecting to the hinterland, thanks to the adoption of new mobility plans. The project envisages the adoption of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) by the municipalities. In fact, based on the analysis of the pre-existing SUMPs, and with the elaboration of new SUMPs, new urban mobility systems will be developed that will respect the principles of sustainability and accessibility. The project promotes multimodal and eco-sustainable transport, and the establishment of smart transport services for residents, travellers and tourists involving the use of electric vehicles, public transport, and other alternative means of transport (pedestrian and cycling paths) at coastal and hinterland tourist destinations. The project will mainly focus upon forms of sustainable transport, with particular regard to the reduction of vehicle emissions as a major cause of pollution. Based on the solutions envisaged in the innovative smart urban mobility plans, pilot measures will be implemented in order to demonstrate the utility of the innovative measures adopted. The improvement of the connections between the hinterland and coastal tourist areas will also be of particular importance, meaning that the project will also increase the appeal and accessibility of smaller tourist destinations. The result will be a more comprehensive tourism offering, and a greater influx of tourists to the cross-border area involved in the project, with an improvement in quality of life for both residents and tourists alike.