Portugal has been making noteworthy progress in urban mobility in recent years. The country has set ambitious goals and objectives, driven by the motivation to reduce the environmental impact of transportation and create more sustainable cities. One of the primary objectives of Portugal’s urban mobility policies is to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable transportation. To achieve this, the country has set a target to have 40% of all urban trips made by walking, cycling, or public transport by 2030. This goal is part of Portugal’s National Energy and Climate Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.

The motivation behind Portugal’s push for sustainable urban mobility is to create more liveable and healthy cities for its residents. The country’s urban areas are among Europe’s most congested and polluted, significantly impacting public health. By promoting sustainable transportation, Portugal aims to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and create more pleasant urban environments.

Portuguese cities are working towards achieving these objectives. Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon, has been working on making its transportation more sustainable for several years. The city has implemented a bike-sharing program, a car-sharing service, and an electric tram system. It has also invested in a network of bike lanes and pedestrian paths, which has helped increase cycling and walking in the city. Cities like Porto, Braga or Cascais has made significant investments in public transportation.

How is EIT Urban Mobility supporting Portugal’s objectives?

Since 2021, 39 projects have been implemented in the country to promote innovation and foster collaboration in urban mobility, two of which are particularly noteworthy: RAPTOR and #ChallengeMyCity.

Rapid Applications for Transport (RAPTOR) is a competition that swiftly creates and tests solutions to niche urban mobility challenges. Participants compete to provide the most innovative, feasible, and impactful solutions. The RAPTOR programme was implemented in 2022 in the city of Cascais with successful results, helping to solve three challenges identified by the city.  

#ChallengeMyCity is a programme enabling European cities to tackle their most pressing urban challenges by testing market-ready innovative mobility solutions.  Its objective is to test the best solutions through a six-month pilot and evaluates their social, economic, and environmental impact and estimate long-term integration into the city’s mobility strategy, to make mobility more sustainable and accessible for all.

The programme will be implemented in 2023 in Braga, which has just won the European Mobility Week 2022 prize for its remarkable activities in promoting sustainable mobility and continues to take steps towards improving its urban mobility ecosystem. Through #ChallengeMyCity programme, it is seeking innovative solutions to face four identified challenges. A total of 240.000 € will be invested in testing these solutions.  https://portocanal.sapo.pt/noticia/326280

But in addition to these two main programmes, other projects have been developed in the country thanks to our collaborative work, resulting in an investment of more than 1.5 million from EIT Urban Mobility since 2021. The city of Lisbon becomes one of the most illustrative examples, with more of 16 projects implemented. 

As Portugal continues to prioritize sustainable and innovative urban mobility solutions, programmes like RAPTOR and #ChallengeMyCity will continue to play a significant role in driving progress and promoting collaboration.

• EIT Urban Mobility’s city partner, Braga has won the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK award in recognition of its work on sustainable mobility
• The award recognises outstanding municipalities for promoting green and active transport during the previous year’s European Mobility Week, the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign.
• The Portuguese city picked up the prize at a ceremony in the Belgian city of Ghent on 23 March

The city of Braga in Portugal has won the prestigious 2022 European Mobility Week Award for its commitment to promoting sustainable mobility. The award recognises cities for their efforts to promote sustainable urban transportation and reduce the environmental impacts of cars and other motorized vehicles. The European Commission announced the award as part of its annual European Mobility Week celebrations. Braga was selected from dozens of European cities for its commitment to developing sustainable urban transport solutions. The city has implemented a range of innovative initiatives to reduce car use, including the creation of a city-wide bike-share system, the introduction of electric buses, and the promotion of public transport. Braga is also making progress in developing alternative forms of transport, such as electric scooters and e-bikes, as well as encouraging citizens to use more sustainable modes of transport like walking and cycling. The award is a testament to Braga’s dedication to creating a more sustainable and healthier urban environment. By investing in green and innovative transport solutions, Braga is demonstrating that cities can take action to reduce car use and promote healthier, greener lifestyles. 

EU judges were impressed with Braga’s commitment to raising awareness on sustainable mobility with many stakeholders, including residents, local businesses, and educational institutions. With this award, the city of Braga is paving the way for other cities to follow in its footsteps and create more sustainable and liveable urban environments.

“It’s an honour to be here today and celebrate Braga’s achievement in promoting sustainable mobility and co-creating synergies among various organisations to provide clean and appealing mobility options for our citizens and families,” Olga Pereira, Braga’s Mobility Councillor said in her acceptance speech.

The other finalists in the category were Sofia (Bulgaria) and Zagreb (Croatia). Offering her congratulations to the various winners of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK awards, Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, told them: “Your inspiring activities really show how cities and towns across Europe can improve people’s wellbeing by offering more sustainable mobility options for all.”

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK runs from 16-22 September every year, providing towns and cities with an opportunity to try out innovative traffic and transport planning, promote new use of infrastructure and raise awareness on sustainable mobility within their communities. (1)

The Municipality of Braga and EIT Urban Mobility – a winning and strong collaboration

The Municipality of Braga and EIT Urban Mobility have partnered to collaborate on multiple projects to improve urban mobility in the region. In 2023 the Portuguese city was selected as part of our #ChallengeMyCity programme, a European self-designed programme that enables European cities to tackle their most pressing urban challenges by testing market-ready innovative mobility solutions.   Enhancing bike safety and monitoring cyclists´ flows, Understanding and promoting active mobility in the city centre, Improving monitoring and use of on-street parking spaces and encouraging alternative transportation for school commuting to decrease private car usage are the four challenges that will be solved in the city, thanks to the #ChallengeMyCity programme. More info available here.

In 2022, Braga implemented the Bicification project, which was supported by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative to turn traditional transportation into a more sustainable form of travel by supporting a modal shift towards green, active mobility through a reward-based gamification programme.

More info available here

(1 – article from the EuropeanMobilityWeek website)

Portugal is becoming a leader in the field of urban mobility, and thanks to their collaboration with EIT Urban Mobility is leading the way. Together, the city and the entity have launched several projects in the country aimed at improving the quality of life for citizens and reducing environmental impact.

And if we think about Portuguese cities, Braga is one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking cities in Europe regarding urban mobility. In consortium with EIT Urban Mobility, the city has developed ambitious projects to improve the mobility of people and goods, reduce emissions and promote the shift towards low-carbon mobility systems and smart cities. To tackle air pollution and traffic congestion, the city has created a bicycle-sharing system and a network of bike lanes. In 2022 the city decide to implement the project “Bicification – O Futuro em Duas Rodas”, funded by EIT Urban Mobility. 

Bicification – O Futuro em Duas Rodas”, (“Bicification – The Future on Two Wheels”) is a European project of sustainable mobility with which 500 citizens from Braga are helping the planet, improving their quality of life and being financially rewarded for their regular use of the bicycle.

Bicification, one of the main projects of the city co-founded by EIT Urban Mobility, is a unique initiative that seeks to turn traditional transportation into a more sustainable form of travel. It aims at supporting a modal shift towards green, active mobility through a reward-based gamification programme. Proposing an advanced solution (TRL9) consisting of patented hardware and software for monitoring and rewarding bike trips reliably.

This pilot project is taking place in three European cities and aims to encourage the use of soft mobility and study citizens’ behaviour to help political decision-makers implement measures. Through a GPS system and the associated App it is possible to monitor the bicycle journeys made, giving rise to financial incentives. This monitoring is done on a centralised data platform.

Each participant can consult the value of the cash prizes they have collected since day 1 on the App. They will also see the local businesses involved in the project where these monetary values can be used to purchase products/services.

Registered users receive monetary rewards from the local authorities, while cities benefit from valuable and reliable trajectory data. Local shops are also supporters of the scheme, as they provide discounts based on the collected points. Thus, an additional benefit for the local communities is the promotion of purchases from local shops.
Bicification also works to promote the health and environmental benefits of cycling, so it is a win-win situation for everyone. Another key aspect of Bicification is that it seeks to bridge the gap between city planning and cycling culture. It works to increase awareness of the infrastructure and services available for cyclists, and also works to encourage civic engagement and participation.

In the city of Braga, the project covered more than 77 thousand kilometres representing an estimated saving of 8 tonnes of CO2.  More than 5,500 euros in vouchers were already delivered.

EIT Urban Mobility is making a huge impact in Braga and beyond. The city is an inspiring example of how through smart innovations and initiatives, mobility can be revolutionised for the better. Furthermore, this is proving to be an invaluable opportunity for Braga to become a world leader in urban mobility and serve as an inspiration for other cities.
Regarding citizen involvement, the project has 1.500 users between Braga, Istanbul and Tallinn, 3 different cities that are making great efforts to promote active mobility. Aiming at reaching 100,000 users in 90 cities in the next 5 years.

EIT Urban Mobility Programme has also improved existing infrastructure and developed new projects around Portugal. For instance, helping the city of Cascais reduce parent commuter’s car dependency by suppressing their need to drive their children to school. Another main initiative is the Flexcurb in Funchal which has also revolutionised the mobility industry. The project provides a solution to control and balance the use of public space digitally, enabling the transition towards flexible use and management of the curb.
Through its various initiatives, EIT Urban Mobility is working to improve the mobility of Portugal and create more sustainable, integrated and efficient transport systems in order to make cities in the country more liveable.

The European project ‘Bicification’ is funded by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. Istanbul, in Turkey, and Talín, in Estonia, are the other two cities that joined the project.

Discover more: https://bicification-project.eu/

Applications are now open for the Portuguese edition of Get in the Ring, promoted by Vodafone Power Lab,  and organised by BGI – Building Global Innovators, in partnership with EIT Urban Mobility, as our EIT Urban Mobility RIS Hub Portugal and Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, trough Made of Lisboa.  

Do you have a smart idea for some of these topics? 

• XR Solutions – Solutions that take advantage of augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality technologies applied to the most diverse sectors.    
• Automation & Gamification – Solutions that take advantage of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, as well as solutions that use game mechanics promoting and enhancing their use.     
• Smart Mobility – Solutions that improve the efficiency of urban mobility and that can be applied to both large cities and smaller urban areas.  
• Big Data – Solutions that develop innovative methods for the efficient and safe collection and processing of a large volume of data, creating useful tools for the development of different types of business. 

Get the chance to win a prize up to €20.000, exclusive meetings with mentors, investors, potential clients, and the possibility to make business partnerships. Book your calendar for the live event on 30-31 May.  

Interested entrepreneurs can now apply for one or more challenges until 29 April.  

Apply here.