Multi initiatives for rationalised accessibility and clean, liveable environments

Deliverables

Objectives - To reduce the environmental impact of the public transport fleet. - To reduce the environmental impact of County Council fleet. Rationale An Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) was declared for Winchester in November 2003, due to high concentrations of air pollutants in the city centre. To improve air quality the MIRACLES project supported the take up of cleaner fuels and technology, and ran a campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of environmentally friendly vehicles. Prior to MIRACLES, most of the buses owned by the main public transport operator, Stagecoach, were Euro II standard or less. Of these, around two thirds were pre-Euro and Euro I, and one third were Euro II. Stagecoach had set up a programme to upgrade its fleet to Euro II standard, but in partnership with Hampshire County Council (HCC) it was decided that this should be extended to meet the Euro III standards introduced in 2001. To reduce the environmental impact of HCCs fleet, seven LPG and 30 Euro IV pool vehicles were purchased, and the Energy Savings Trust, Motorvate (green fleet accreditation) programme was joined, in order to undertake benchmarking of HCC s fleet and receive recommendations to reduce unnecessary business mileage and emissions. Description of the implementation A Quality Bus Partnership (QBP) was agreed between HCC, MIRACLES, Winchester City Council and Stagecoach in September 2003. As a result 13 new Euro III buses were introduced on two key routes. In addition 10 buses were repowered from Euro I to Euro III and four Euro II buses on the P+R route were fitted with Continuous Regenerative Traps (CRTs). Selective Catalytic Reduction systems were also installed on one re-powered bus and five of the new Euro III buses. A secondary aim was to introduce the public to alternative fuel types and diesel/electric hybrid buses were demonstrated during two trials on the P+R route. By joining the Motorvate programme it was hoped that through leading by example other companies in Hampshire would also join the scheme. Key Findings Re-powering buses to higher Euro standards is a cost and energy efficient way of reducing the pollutants of city centre buses. Maintenance costs decreased by 60% for the new Euro III buses, although fuel consumption increased slightly. For the re-powered Euro III buses, fuel consumption remained constant and they had lower smoke test readings than when fitted with Euro I standard engines. The percentage of lost miles (due to vehicle breakdown) for the overall bus fleet decreased during the project, partly due to the introduction of the new Euro III buses. A questionnaire survey found 63% of respondents perceived that the hybrid bus was more comfortable than the usual P+R bus and 81% thought it was quieter. 24% stated that the permanent introduction of a hybrid bus would make them use the P+R service more frequently. HCC are on target to meet Motorvate�s reduction of a 12% in CO2 and 3% mileage, spread over five years.

Promotion of soft measures was particularly focused around Car Free Day and European Mobility Week. This consisted of radio and newspaper advertisements and special leaflets to inform people of the week and the need to shift from a personal car use. Onstreet survey revealed overwhelming public support for the initiative- only one dissenting voice out of over 100 surveyed complaints mainly arose from people needing to carry heavy shopping. Some years, excessive streetworks prohibited further road closures for the day. However schools or debating competitions were always held to stimulate discussion of sustainable mobility amongst young people. To promote long term change a series of cartoon style leaflets were produced entitled the Zip Around Cork Series. Episode 1- Life in the Fast Lane featured a Race between a cyclist, a bus and using the Greenroute Lanes and a car. Episode 2-Take a Walk on the Leeside Visually highlights how public transport/walking reduce congestion and improve health etc. These were launched by the Lord Mayor given much publicity and disseminated via public buildings and schools. Critical Success factors: - General Promotion campaigns should grab the imagination. Colourful brochures with minimal words are helpful. - The Zip Around Cork Series was cartoon style for kids appeal and featured a caricature of a local humorous champion of consumer rights for adult appeal. - Retailer support for access restrictions on In Town Without My Car Day and European Mobility Week can be hard to garner but user survey feedback and positive campaigns, to: Come and Shop without the Hassle of Parking etc. can be persuasive. -Street events can also bring crowds to town, which can help boost retail trade.

Objectives - To improve the quality of the bus service in Winchester. - To improve the quality of information regarding bus services. - To integrate public transport services. - To contribute to an 8% increase in bus patronage and satisfaction of public transport. Rationale The 1999 MORI residents survey showed that public transport in general, and local bus services in particular, were of great concern to the residents of Hampshire. MIRACLES aimed to improve the local bus service and make public transport a more appealing option for those wishing to travel in or around Winchester. Description of the implementation At the start of the project major improvements, including bus priority signals, were made to the bus-rail interchange at Winchester Railway Station, to allow closer integration of public transport services. A Quality Bus Partnership (QBP) covering Services 1, 5 and Park and Ride (P+R) was agreed between the local bus operator Stagecoach, Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council, in September 2003. The QBP sought Stagecoach s support in implementing MIRACLES public transport objectives. To support the QBP, 76 new bus stop poles and flags were installed on the cross-city routes of Services 1 and 5. New bus shelters were installed at stops with the highest passenger demand. Bus stops on Services 1, 5 and P+R were also equipped with stop specific timetables and maps. Thirteen new buses were introduced on Services 1 and 5, allowing frequency to increase to every ten minutes on Service 5. In addition, the existing P+R facility was extended to provide 420 additional spaces. Frequency in peak hours was increased, to 7-8 minutes and operational hours were extended to nine o�clock in the evening, on a six month trial. A cross-city route, operating between the P+R car parks and several major employers on the opposite side of the side of the city, was also trialled for seven months. It was hoped that these improvements would encourage a wider range of people entering Winchester to use bus facilities. A total of 10,000 Winchester PT Plus pocket travel maps, designed by Quickmap Limited, were distributed in November 2003, and updated in September 2004. The map includes details of bus, rail, and National Express coach services, along with opening times of city centre attractions. A detailed city centre map has been included to enable users to travel around the city on foot, as well as by public transport. Key Findings On the three key routes covered by the MIRACLES QBP patronage increased by an average of 12% from the start of the QBP, although with substantial variation between routes (X1; -6%, X5: +25%, P+R +42%). Two non-MIRACLES control routes saw an average decrease in patronage of 6%. Passenger satisfaction ratings on the MIRACLES routes were very high, with 87% of passengers rating the service as good or very good. Punctuality also improved, with the number of early or late bus journeys reducing from 0.95% in 2002/03 to 0.34% in 2004/05. The new cross city P+R service was abandoned at the end of the trial because it attracted too few passengers. The measures implemented, such as the QBP and improvements to public transport infrastructure and information, are expected to continue beyond the lifetime of the project.

Trials demonstrated that it is possible to deliver goods at night to supermarkets using adapted 40T trucks without increasing the ambient noise levels. by delivering at night, 2 larger trucks substitute 7 deliveries using smaller trucks; daytime delivery incurs congestion delays such that it takes almost twice as long compared to night deliveries. The monthly cost saving is 6000 Euros.

The innovative feature of this new ticketing system lies in the possibility to create a totally virtual ticketing system using the mobile phone as main device. From the user point of view, the benefit of using the mobile phone as a tool to access the public transport network is highly enhanced by the highly widespread usage of mobile phones in every days life. The user can indeed use its mobile phone to purchase, pay and use the virtual ticket, anywhere and anytime, without constraints of looking for ticket kiosks or coins for vending machines. The system implementation has been preceded by a demanding preliminary phase, analysing technical and mainly financial and legal constraints that are specific to Italy. After the validation of the feasibility study, the implementation phase of a large scale pilot has followed.

This measure helped to result in the provision of a Park & Ride Site 8 km south of the city centre with 900 car parking spaces. By October 2005 daily patronage was approx. 500 cars/day saving approximately 475 round trips to the city centre. (Some walked from the site to nearby out of city destinations.) This helps free up the city roads for more efficient commercially essential trips. It also makes the city centre more attractive for shoppers who dislike the stress of innercity driving/the hassle of searching for a parking space. (12% of those surveyed in April 2005 did so to avoid the stress of city traffic 18% because they found it gave them easier/faster access to the city-using the bus lanes & traffic light prioritization. 34% used it because of concern about trying to find parking.) Typically 10% use the service for shopping & 3% for non-shopping businesses outside of Christmas. Thats around 15,000 shoppers/yr.(63% of customers were going shopping on Car Free Day when the bus is free & usage peaks) Most regular users are commuting to work because it is cheaper than inner city parking. This has socio-economic benefits for these individuals & their places of work- which benefit from lower dem&s for work place parking & less stressed employees. Information about the Park & Ride has been widely disseminated at local, national & EU level. A presentation was made to the Civitas Forum in Rotterdam in 2004& the Irish Government awarded it a Public Service Excellence Award in 2006.The Black Ash Park & Ride was the first permanent year-round service in the Republic of Ireland. Key innovative aspects included: -Variable Message Signs on nearby ring roads & other approaches, thus integrating the ring roads & public transport systems. -Secure bicycle parking facilities & all customers given a complementary newspaper! Such facilities/services had not previously been provided at any local bus stops or stations. -The waiting/administrative building comprised clever composition of wood & glass to blend in an unobtrusive environmentally friendly manner with the surrounds. -Gases produced by rotting waste under this former landfill site are piped to a nearby power generation plant to produce electricity for the National Grid -Within its first year of operation, daily operational costs started to match daily revenues Cork has identified a number of critical factors for a successful state-of-the-art in Park & Ride development: - The site should be off the inbound lane into the city. - It should be well signposted. - It should be advertised on Radio Traffic Reports, press adverts & by information slips into other customer mailings of the organization. - The bus should have easy access & egress via lanes of adequate width & clear visibility around turns. - Bus lanes & bus priority at traffic lights - Cars spaces should be laid out to optimize space, however using a herringbone layout is worth considering because making parking easier can ease traffic congestion within the site at peak times. Environmental Considerations: -The service should reduce vehicular emissions & traffic congestion by reducing citybound cartraffic. -Cork City Council will&has also considered the use of lower emission buses( electric or fuelled by biofuels/cng/hydrogen) -The site should also be landscaped to blend with the environment, screen the site & compensate for loss of green space. -The administrative building should be designed with sensitivity to the environment using natural materials. If building near a clayrich area a cob building could be viable. Some factors to consider for longterm financial viability are: - Reducing parking site running costs by investigating/investing in Renewable sources of power to generate electricity for the administration building, barriers & (solar?) lighting. - Good market research looking at traffic flows near possible locations. - Reducing land purchase costs by considering the use of sites not suited for other purposes- such as former landfills. - Good cost-effective service marketing piggyback on existing info. Channels (e.g. parking fines notices, staff bulletins) general press releases promoting Car Free Day. - Consider offering Free Days to encourage service sampling. Cork City Council were also very keen to ensure that its Park & Ride was/is valued for its reliability. The bus company which was awarded the bus-service contract, must maintain very strict standards of frequency & efficiency of journey times. Short journey times are facilitated by the choice of route- along the dual carriageway, using bus lanes & avoiding excessive congestion & traffic lights. The city centre pick-up point is also along on of the least busy roads in the city centre- avoiding the commercial/retail areas, which are yet within a 5 minutes walk. Surveys carried out in April 2005 indicated that the frequency of the bus service was rated by 100% as Very Good to Satisfactory.

The main objective was to raise public awareness and acceptance of the measures being implemented within MIRACLES among visitors and residents of Winchester and businesses in the city centre. A variety of dissemination methods was used including leaflets, radio advertisements, a Winchester MIRACLES website, demonstration days and a school art competition. In addition, businesses, organisations and schools were encouraged to develop green travel plans. Public awareness and acceptance of MIRACLES initiatives was assessed through five sets of questionnaires. Awareness of the MIRACLES logo increased from 3% during the baseline survey to 20% in the final survey (and 24% in the business survey undertaken in 2005). A comparison was undertaken regarding awareness of individual project initiatives. The highest levels of awareness were for those initiatives that had a high visual presence, for example: the demonstration days (57% for Bike Week and 51% for Alternative Transport Day), Bus Departure Information Systems or BDIS (49%) and VMS (42%), Bikeabout (38%) and improved appearance of bus stops (38%). The percentage of respondents who generally agreed with the council policy of encouraging people to reduce car use and travel by sustainable methods, increased from 69% in the baseline survey to 71% in the final survey. The number of employees covered by a workplace travel plan increased by 7,722 during the lifetime of the project to a total of 11,835. The demonstration days were particularly successful as they were highly visual with Bikeabout bicycles, cleaner cars and electric vans on show. Awareness and (stated preference) acceptance of an initiative does not necessarily influence travel behaviour. For instance, 71% of the public agreed that it was important to travel by sustainable transport, but only about 25% used a mode of sustainable transport in Winchester on a daily basis (based on all responses to the final questionnaire survey).

The following papers have been presented at the related events and published as follows: - MUSSO, A., CORAZZA, M.V., 2006. Improving Urban Mobility Management: The Rome Case. Transportation Research Record. (to be published); Also in: Proceedings of the 85th TRB Annual Meeting Washington (On CD-Rom) - MUSSO, A., CORAZZA, M.V., 2006. Access Control in City Centres: Rome as a case. In: Proceedings of the 1st International Congress Citizens and Mobility Mangement. Madrid: Security and Services to the Comunity Area of the Madrid City Council - MUSSO A.,BISANTI S., CORAZZA, M.V., 2006. Un'applicazione innovativa nel trasporto collettivo: il Taxibus a Roma. In: Didattica e ricerca nell ingegneria dei Trasporti. XIII Convegno Nazionale SIDT - Seminario Scientifico: Il Trasporto Pubblico Locale. Milan: Franco Angeli Editore - MUSSO A., CORAZZA M.V., 2005. MIRACLES: metodologia, tecnologia, innovazione. Il caso di Roma. In:Proceedings of the SIDT Seminar. Milan: Franco Angeli Editore. MUSSO A., CORAZZA M.V., 2004. Improving Urban Mobility Management: the Rome's case study. In: Proceedings of the 10th World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR) Istanbul (On CD-Rom) Moreover the following abstract has been selected for presentation at the next 11th World Conference on Transport Research, to be held at Berkley, Ca., on June 2007. - MUSSO A., CORAZZA M.V, Access restriction: the Rome s approach. The above-listed papers and presentations concern the MIRACLES results, along with the related evaluation process.

This initiative aimed to promote a 5% modal shift from single car occupancy use for commuting to work. To encourage this posters and leaflets were produced highlighting the impacts of personal car use on health, the environment, personal finances etc. Then Travel to work questionnaires were designed and circulated to determine travel modes, times, origins and destinations. Questions were also included to promote consideration of alternatives to the car and identify barriers to the use of bus, bike or car-pooling. All comments received were circulated to the relevant stakeholders and graphical results posted to the staff intranet to highlight in particular high use of car by those living Ü 2km from work. The baseline in 2002: 70% of employees commuted by car;42% alone. By 2004 61% of employees commutes by car; 36% alone. It is hard to determine to what extent if any the promotion of alternative modes and car pooling to staff contributed t this. Certainly although interest was expressed in car pooling and it was possible to identify potentially compatible journeys, no-one successfully used the matching service to arrange car pools. However the promotion of the idea encouraged staff to organize their own car pools as evidence by surveyors over the years. Other factors encouraging a switch to more sustainable modes of transport and included: increased access restrictions in the city centre and a 20% decrease in staff car parking spaces. Also many staff relocated to houses closer to the City Centre. The key findings for dissemination are that: -Greater emphasis should be placed on the economic benefits of car pooling to participants -Databases with other local businesses can help broaden the range of potential pooling partners for those interested. Ultimately Cork City Council concluded that Car Sharing is more attractive option for commuters and post MIRACLES a car-sharing feasibility Study was commissioned. (Cork City Council would be interested in collaborating with other bodies interested in supporting this work). Additionally Cork City Council decided to promote walking and cycling as part of a Lifestyle Challenge Initiative for Staff post-MIRACLES. Cork City Council also extended this measure to promote better commuting to school by carrying out Travel to School Surveys and promoting sustainable travel options to school kids via European Mobility Week competitions and School Cycle Safety Training. Other Critical Factors and Recommendations for Successful Mobility Management Policies: - If promoting car pooling, one challenge is to strike a balance between having a user database extensive enough to increase the likelihood of successful matching- whilst not making it so open that people are wary of strangers. - It is possible to record origin/destination data on maps and in tables but for long-term sustainability this should be transferred to a GIS type digital map. - Prior to introducing staff modal shift promotions, it is necessary to research the impacts of uptake on staff car allowances and insurance. Senior Management may need to be persuaded to introduce concessions so that staff are not financially dissuaded from making more sustainable choices. Cycling or Public Transport allowances should also be considered.

This measure introduced a system for parking-fee payment by mobile phone. People interested in availing of the service applied to a company called the Park-by-Phone (PbP) Consortium who issued them with a registration pack. Following registration, each registered user pays a small sum of money into their PbP account which is drawndown whenever they use the service. To use the service they receive a barcode from PbP which they affix to their vehicle then whenever they park in a PbP zone they call the PbP number & input their PIN & the streetzone number on the PbPsign. Customers can receive a text reminder 10 mins before they need to go move the car or top-up payment for 1 extra hr. To monitor compliance with Parking Payment By-Laws traffic wardens were issued with handheld devices which they use to scan the barcodes for automatic feedback about the users parking payment status. The handhelds can also be used for recording all parking violations printing parking tickets, thus greatly increase efficiency of parking enforcement and reduce paper/card consumption. This is a system which could be introduced be introduced by any municipality operating/considering operating a system for on-street parking restrictions. The PbP system is highly innovative in an Irish context. When Cork proposed it for MIRACLES in 2001, no other municipality in the Irish Republic had such a system. Subsequently, a phone-based parking system: MPark was introduced in Dublin in Mid 2004. This is quite different from PbP as it simply offers a cashless payment at pay&display machines. Customers simply ring a number to automate payment to the machine, which then prints off the appropriate receipt/ticket for display. It is thus a more time-consuming payment method than PbP but it also requires no changes to the aprking enforcement regime. Another system for parking payment by phone: ParkMagic(PM) was introduced in Limerick in Nov. 05. This has the advantage of greater anonymity as users simply by an electronic display with an ID number and parking credit, which they top-up as they would a phone; so it requires users to visit a shop or use the internet to top-up. Once registered PbP users no longer need to shop for parking payment tickets/credits. Cork City Council is still the only Irish city using PbP. In Feb 06 User-Surveys 97% were satisfied-very satisfied with it, 99% would use it again & 90% found it easy to use, 10% had slight difficulty- but 9% were 1st time/rare users. The main reasons for use were faster/easier than disc parking 79%, ability to top-up remotely 18% & easier cost/billing method 1%. However when the service was 1st introduced it was confined to citycentre. In response to user demands it was subsequently expanded into 120 suburban streets. Cork City Council also benefits from PbP because of: - Reduced demand for the production of parking discs- which has significant financial and environmental associated costs. - The PbP system is supplied by a System for Automatic recording & relaying of information about all parking violations form warden handhelds and systems for on-line phonebased payment of parking fines. This greatly expedites the parking enforcement and fine payment system. Critical Success Factors: - Discuss the new system with Traffic Wardens before introduction of a new parking payment system and maintain good dialogue during training and implementation. - If issuing handhelds to wardens they can carry them safely or affix to belts. - Ensure handheld printers and paper have high water impermeability. - If users need to register on the system, make this easy: provide the barcode/user display with the registration system. Consider on the spot, on-street registration/display issue. - Ensure the area in which the new system can be used is of sufficient size & parking demand to be attractive to users. Areas far from shops selling parking discs should be particularly considered. Incentives like a months free parking can encourage initial uptake. - To maintain usage total costs to users including call costs should be no more than disc parking. - Text warning of fee expiry & an extra hr grace can also encourage usage. - Weigh up eco-benefits of lower paper consumption against Life Cycle Analysis of electronic Equipment.

17 of Cork City Council s Vehicle Fleet: 1 Isuzu Trooper 1 VW Transponder, 4 Ford Couriers and 11 Fiat Ducatos. were converted to run on Pure Plant Oil (PPO) in May 2003. Subsequent problems and solutions are tabulated below: Vehicles Problem Solution Comment Isuzu Trooper August 2003 the engine developed problems with timing mechanisms and leakages conversion completely reversed engine internal and old - probably not a good choice for experimentation. ALL Oct. 2003 drivers complain about thick black exhaust smoke and the significant noisy start-up delays fuel filters should have been changed within a month of the conversions & the idlespeed of the engines needed to be increased to keep the engine at a higher temperature drivers mixed 25% diesel into the PPO as anecdotal evidence suggested that this helped reduce startup delays; 3 drivers pulled out because of concerns about the nauseating exhaust gas smell Fiat Ducatos May 03 -June 05:Ongoing problems with start-up & smoke The Ducato engine�s internal energy management system, which had been adjusted to heat the PPO fuel line, was actually registering the new setup as a fault and cutting out. New parallel fuel-line heating mechanisms were set-up instead Performance improved dramatically Ford couriers Start-up problems, injection pump timing belts failed Timing belts replaced The belts were old-having clocked up around 50,000 miles ALL Dec. 05 Slow refuelling Installation of a home-made valve to allow greater free flow of the biofuel from its own refueling tank. In 2004 2 vehicles were tested at the University of Limerick. The tests demonstrated that steady-state PPO emissions are more or less the same as for diesel but there were marked power & torque improvements particularly using 100% PPO. By late 2005 all of the original 16 vehicles containing converted engines were using 100% PPO again. In autumn 2005 the council also began to use a locally-made biodiesel: Gro-oil, in a Mitsubishi L200. In spring 2006 they ran a common rail injection engine ford focus on Gro-oil. The driver has since written a positive report on the vehicle s performance whilst operating on biodiesel, recording the impact of the fuel on key performance indicators. Ultimately the Plant and Machinery Division intends to use bio-diesel for its entire new fleet due for purchase in 2007, but this will depend on price, availability and reliability. The main advantage of biodiesel is that the vehicles do not need conversion so it s easier to introduce fleet-wide. This project has benefited the Irish economy by playing a key role in developing an indigenous biofuel industry. It has been morally uplifting to farmers and environmentally beneficial in demonstrating ways to reduce net transport ghg emissions. Cork City Council has developed a checklist for those considering conversion of vehicles to run on biofuel which it has submitted to its PPO supplier & SEI: the body responsible for promoting & developing policies for renewable energy nationally. The use of lower emission fuels for City Council vehicles was perceived locally as being highly innovative because very few local people were even aware of the existence of such fuels. PPO was never before used by local authority vehicles in Ireland, (bio diesel was used before in County Council vehicles and during the MIRACLES inception period, a trial of waste cooking oil in County Council boilers and vehicles was underway.) Vehicle conversion kits had to be specially developed by the supplier for some of the fleet�s vehicles, as these models had not been converted before. Much was learned after this and the critical success factors identified were as follows: - If converting vehicles to run on PPO a single tank system can seem advantageous for fleet owners where drivers change frequently; a dual tank system can however reduce start-up delays. - Whatever system is introduced the conversion kit must be carefully adapted to the vehicle in question. Kits for new engines may not be readily available but the engine should still be in reasonably good condition. - Not all diesel engines can be converted and those that are may need replacement eventually. The cost of conversion & PPO use should be weighedup against the cost of using biodiesel alone in unconverted engines. - Biofuels are not ideal for RCVs, which are continuously stopping & starting bearing heavy loads. - Drivers must be fully briefed at an early stage & complaints should be listened & responded to immediately. - Instructions from suppliers of conversion kits & fuels should be very strictly adhered to. - The future success of the PPO industry could be greatly enhanced if: --Standards for PPO could be developed and enforced --Purpose built cars capable of using PPO without conversion become widely available --A comprehensive biofuel refueling infrastructure is put in place.

The full-scale deployment of automatic access control systems in Rome has tackled a number of issues, ranging from the technical issues, to the management issues, and to a variety of bureaucratic and institutional issues. Basic instrument for safeguarding Romes historic city centre (Limited Traffic Zone) is the installation of electronic gates for traffic monitoring and control. Historic city centre LTZ subsystem, operating from October 2001, includes the use of 22 gates on access roads to historic city centre that optically detect the plate of vehicles by APNR (Automatic Plate Number Recognition) techniques. They also control, according to the plate number, if vehicle is licensed or not to enter, and in case of eventual offence, they switch on the procedure of sanctioning according to rules in force. The 22 historic city centre LTZ gates also use short-range radio technologies (DSRC) for communication. Thus, vehicles are identified through an exchange of information via radio between the gate (RSU Road Side Unit) and a device called OBU (On Board Unit) that is inside the vehicle. LTZ of Rome historic city centre is prohibited to cars during working days from Monday to Friday from 6.30a.m. to 6p.m. and Saturday from 2p.m. to 6p.m..On Friday and Saturday LTZ is also operative from 11p.m. to 3a.m. Following the good results obtained by the historic city centre LTZ, it has been installed a new Limited Traffic Zone, Trastevere LTZ. It consists of 12 gates along all the roads entering the area. Trastevere LTZ subsystem came into service on 26th July 2006 and it includes the monitoring of entries only by optical system. An important innovation was the installation of variable message signs near the gate. The signs indicate to users the operating state of the gate. These will soon be extended on all historic city centre LTZ gates. Trastevere LTZ works from Monday to Friday from 6.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and on Friday and Saturday night from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. In the next few months 10 new electronic gates will be installed for monitoring other two LTZ areas named San Lorenzo LTZ (7 gates) and Villa Borghese LTZ (3 gates). SOME IMPORTANT DATA OF THE HISTORIC CITY CENTRE LTZ - Daily average of entries 130.000 - Average of entries in working times (6.30a.m. - 6p.m.) 70.000 - Daily average of offences (7% of the entries) 5.000 EFFECTS OF HISTORIC CITY CENTRE LTZ ACTIVATION - Reduction of access flows -15/20% - Increase of average speed (in LTZ) + 4% - Increase of public transport average speed (in LTZ) +5% LTZ access for authorised categories is based on an annual permit worth the equivalent of a 12-month public transport card (311.47 Euro) now increased by a new Council Act, where the cost for permit becomes 550,00. Authorised categories can also use a per day permit, whose cost is 20,00.

This measure improved the city centre shopping environment for pedestrians and cyclists in some tangible ways: - By vastly increasing pavement widths and pedestrian crossings on the 2 principle city centre shopping streets: St. Patrick's Street and Oliver Plunkett Street. - By restricting access to all sides streets south of St. Patrick's Street leading into Oliver Plunkett Street between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. - By providing attractive new cycle stands, railings for people to lean on and large seating areas - By restricting the number of car lanes on the street and re-routing traffic away from the city centre. This made the city centre seem more attractive for shopping. According to a cleanzone survey conducted in May 2005 65% of respondents thought that the city was more accessible, only 5% thought that it was less accessible. 48% came by car but 9% cycled- a very impressive % given that ordinarily less that 2% commute by bike. This was reinforced by traffic count data which demonstrated a 117% increase in cycling near St. Patrick's Street. This should imply that more people are shopping in the city centre which will bring economic benefits. The evident encouragement to walk or cycle through the city centre should also reap socio-health benefits encouraging people to exercise in a more stress free environment. There should also be some environmental benefits accruing from the reduced car traffic. The precise environment impacts are quantified in the Evaluation Templates. Unfortunately Noise levels actually increased by 1 Logarithmic A-equivalent dBA from the baseline in 2002 to 2005 and dissatisfaction with noise increased from 54 to 56% over this time; however, this may have been attributable to ongoing works on Oliver Plunkett Street. Over 60% of survey respondents thought that the visual appearance of the street was much better which should have positive spin-offs for tourism as well as community morale. Already the streetscape has facilitated many cultural events- including Streetfilms for the filmfestival, a live rock-band performance for Car Free Day 2004 and many more cultural events for Cork s reign as Capital of Culture. Key innovative features of the measure: -Reduction of street clutter using aesthetically attractive co-ordinated functional street-furniture like stylish chrome cycle stands, handrails and marble seating. -Hand rails were particularly useful as the mobility-impaired often rely on street furniture to lean on. Hand rails and seats overcome this in a stylish unobtrusive way. -They also help to delineate paving which has no kerbs- to better facilitate wheelchairs and buggies. -Access Restriction Bollards were customized for the project. To cater for the rising saltwater table under our flood-prone city centre streets the bollards had to be stainless steel and their subterranean enclosure had to be watertight. -The flashing warning lights and siren are also innovative in the local context and considered critical to adequately warn encroaching motorists. The critical success factors pertaining to this measure are: - Wide-ranging stakeholder consultation during and after the design research/ planning phases and post-implementation. Stakeholders to be consulted should include street-traders, advocates for the Blind or wheelchair users, cycling campaign groups, bus companies and taxi representatives - Third party help with consultation and evaluation can help to mediate/avoid potential conflicts over controversial proposals. - All elements of street furniture should be considered from multiple different user perspectives e.g. How will blind people with guide-dogs interact with diagonally leaning lamp-posts? How will motorists try to drive around bollards? - All service utility providers of electricity phone-lines/gas pipes, sewers etc. should be asked to carry out checks and maintenance works before a major street design project to minimize further disruption to the newly laid street. - Paving can be laid out in a modular way that allows easy access to underground pipes and cables. (Utility providers should be asked to pre-empt maintenance during the streetworks) - Providing electrical sockets for seasonal lighting or recreational street events like films shows/concerts - Allowing adequate width in places for cultural spectacles - Good integration with public transport and provisions for cyclists i.e.: --Making bus shelters bigger, more sheltered, more comfortable to wait in, with well maintained/updated bus timetables. --Ensuring adequate space for buses to pull-in and pull-out safely. - Parking enforcers must be particularly vigilant to ensure that bus stops are not encroached upon by loading vehicles or taxis. - Those responsible for bus services could respond proactively by researching the viability of introducing more frequent services to bring more people into the city centre (Cork introduced a new Park and Ride Service).

As a direct result of the MIRACLES project, a new section, The Evaluation of Urban Traffic Management, has been inserted in the following university courses in Ireland: University College Cork. Civil Engineering Courses CE3013 Traffic Engineering, and CE4011 Transportation Engineering. Trinity College Dublin. Civil Engineering Course JA7 , Highway Design and Construction.

The MOBY project launched by Atac in 2003 aims at providing passenger, during their travel on bus, both information on mobility and on public transport (information about special events and possible diversion of route, instructions for use of authenticators, smartcard, change in commercial supply) and information about entertainment events and leisure time (most important places of historical interest, special events, news press updated in real time, meteo, horoscope). This system consists of a Data Center and on board system: the Data Center is the core of information, where it is arranged the contents editing (news meteo, life, etc.). All information transmitted to the Data Center by GPRS to the vehicle on board system are locally stored on a computer and finally displayed through a double LCD video. The system in general is placed on buses crossing the Capital old city centre and on tourist buses: a total of about 400 vehicles, among traditional and methane fuelled ones.

Objective - To increase the efficiency of freight delivery in Winchester. - To develop a clean urban delivery service that will become self-sufficient at the end of the project. Rationale The historic road network in Winchester city centre is not designed to cope with large numbers of heavy goods vehicles. Vehicles making deliveries to local businesses can cause considerable disruption to traffic movements, with knock-on effects on air quality. Prior to the start of the project a local Freight Forum had been established, to work with local businesses to investigate ways to improve operations and reduce environmental impacts. Measures implemented by MIRACLES aimed to build on this work, to reduce the impact of deliveries on both traffic congestion and local air quality. Description of the implementation At the start of the project detailed surveys of over 450 shops and businesses in Winchester were carried out. The surveys examined freight patterns and developed an understanding of the problems encountered when delivering goods and services. Discussions were held with a number of companies regarding the feasibility of alternative delivery systems in Winchester. One such company was Collectpoint plc, who offer an alternative to home delivery, primarily to internet shoppers. Collectpoints are located in convenience stores, and provide an alternative delivery address for purchases. The main benefit of this service is the reduction of failed and subsequent return deliveries made by couriers and postal services. With support from MIRACLES, Collectpoint plc expanded their service within the city, resulting in a total of five locations. MIRACLES widely publicised Collectpoint and offered a ten week free trial of the service during Summer 2004. Feedback from initial surveys resulted in the free trial being extended until Easter 2005. A Winchester Freight Map was produced for road freight operators and drivers of commercial vehicles, showing appropriate routes, the main delivery destinations, and vehicular restrictions. Two thousand maps have been distributed to local service areas, filling stations and Winchester businesses. Dove Recycling are a company making recycling collections from Winchester businesses. MIRACLES have been working in partnership Dove Recycling since February 2005, and provided a Citroen Berlingo electric van for their collections within the city. The collection service aims to replace predominantly diesel van journeys with electric van deliveries, resulting in 100% reductions in tailpipe emissions. Key findings On average one in five parcels in Winchester fails to be delivered first time, indicating there were potential benefits to be gained from an alternative delivery option, in reduced time and distance travelled. However, the initial Collectpoint trial was marred by technical difficulties and few people used the service. The lack of data meant it was difficult to assess whether the scheme would have been commercially viable, although the trial indicates it would not. For such a scheme to be successful internet retailers would need to incorporate it into their system as an alternative delivery option. The freight map which was distributed to service areas was thought to be a useful tool for delivery drivers. Before the waste recycling collection trial, 68% of businesses said they did not recycle, 66% employing SERCO to collect their waste using a 26 tonne heavy-duty diesel refuse vehicle with the waste eventually going to landfill. From small beginnings, collecting a tonne of paper and cardboard a month, the recyclable waste collection service appears to be a commercially viable venture for Dove recycling, since they now operate the service on a full-time basis and have expanded the scheme to other towns in Hampshire.

Objective - To provide better, multi-modal, information for travellers through the introduction of intelligent transport systems. - To provide public transport users with real-time travel information. - To develop near real-time journey time information for motorists on the radial routes into Winchester city centre. Rationale At the start of the MIRACLES project, a number of traffic and travel display systems were located around Winchester city centre. However, a Best Value review, conducted in 2000, concluded that public transport information required further improvements. As a result, MIRACLES installed a variety of information display systems to provide better multi-modal information for travellers, especially public transport users. In addition, systems were implemented to improve network management, and provide traffic and travel information to all road users. This measure was a key part of Hampshire County Council s (HCC s) integrated approach to the CIVITAS and MIRACLES objectives. Description of the implementation Three Bus Departure Information Systems (BDIS) were installed at the railway and bus stations, providing information on bus arrivals and assisting travellers in making integrated public transport journeys. Four new Variable Message Signs (VMS) were installed on strategic routes entering the city. Four electronic information kiosks were installed: two indoors (Tourist Information Centre and Royal Hampshire County Hospital); and two outdoors (city centre and Railway Station). The kiosks deliver information regarding public transport (services, routes, timetables, etc.), accommodation and tourist/visitor attractions. Three Information Display Units (IDUs) were installed at major employers premises, allowing employees to consider all travel options when planning journeys. These display real-time, traffic and travel information (also available on the ROMANSE website), static bus and, real-time train times. The ROMANSE website was updated as more information sources became available during the life of the project. Information from the website is now also accessible via mobile devices. Installation of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system comprised of cameras at strategic locations around the city, forming an inner and outer cordon: together with communications facilities that transmit data to a central computer. The data is used to provide origin-destination information, and calculate real-time journey times for both public and private transport. Key Findings The four kiosks recorded over 3,500 users per month. The two outdoor kiosks attraced approximately four times as many users as those indoor, primarily due to the greater footfall. On-street surveys found that 94% of users rated the kiosks highly; 97% found the information they were looking for; 94% found them easy to use, and; 89% agreed with the aim of improving sustainable transport. The IDUs and VMS are providing multi-modal traffic and travel information, and previous research has shown these systems are well received by the public. The ANPR system is working well and reliably provides journey times to both roadside VMS and schematic diagrams on the ROMANSE on-line web site. ANPR systems of this type require an extensive validation process in order to verify that the information disseminated to the public is accurate. Also, installation of equipment in an historical setting, or on third-party land can be time-consuming. As such it is important to factor in sufficient time to allow for this. In terms of awareness, 49% of the general public were aware of BDIS, 42% of VMS, 23% of the kiosks and 19% of the ROMANSE on-line website.

One of the objectives of this result was to offer key findings on the battery propelled vehicles. Electric buses have been running in Rome since 1989, with a large fleet of 42e- buses (5 mt buses; max capacity: 27 people; equipped with pb-acid 585 Ah batteries; autonomy of 45 km) operating on three lines inside the historical centre. The project was aimed at extending the area where e-buses are operated through the purchase of 36 middle sized buses (9mt), in order to achieve environmental benefits. During the four years of the project, unexpectedly a big effort had to be concentrated on the procurement of these buses. 3 tenders had to be launched. The main requirements of the tender were: - Improvements in the performance of batteries, mainly in their energy storage capacity (for example a limit of 200Wh/kg would be very attractive), in life cycle and, overall, in price. - Capacity: about 40 passengers; - Range: either 180 kilometres or 12 hours continuous operation; - Admittance for recharging during stops at the terminus. Technical tests have been performed on some difficult paths in Rome in order to test the main performances of the vehicles: 135 km covered with one battery charge, max speed: 55km/h, 15% slope covered. ATAC has learned a lot on the main aspect of the procurement, which is the reliability of batteries.

Objective - To increase public acceptance of cycling. - To stimulate the use of sustainable transport by residents and tourists. Rationale Before the MIRACLES project efforts were already being made to increase the level of cycling in Winchester, in terms of modal split and number of journeys being made by bicycle. The County Council had been working with Winchester Cycle Forum to expand the Winchester Cycle Network and ensure re-allocation of road space to cyclists and pedestrians. MIRACLES aimed to build on this work. The major initiative within this measure is the demonstration of an innovative Bikeabout scheme, supported by continuing improvements to the cycle network throughout the city. Description of the implementation The Bikeabout scheme offers members of the public free loan of bicycles. Users pay a one-off registration fee of £15 and can then borrow a bicycle as often as they like, at no additional charge, for up to 24 hours at a time. The scheme was piloted early in 2004 at the University of Winchester (UoW), and was officially launched at Bike Week in June 2004. Bikeabout currently operates from four locations, the original pilot site at UoW, a site close to the railway station and, as a result of consumer demand, additional nodes at St Catherine s Park and Ride and Winchester Tourist Information Centre were introduced in 2005. Offering a service to commuters, local residents and visitors. Fifty, MIRACLES branded, Pashley Pronto bicycles are distributed between the sites. During full operational service, two full-time operators are employed, six days a week, to oversee the running of the railway station compound where the bikes are maintained. Operational hours are reduced for the Winter, reflecting the decrease in consumer demand due to environmental conditions. Membership has been steadily growing since May 2004, there are now around 250 members. To compliment the Bikeabout scheme, improvements have been made to cycle infrastructure and information. Over 200 secure cycle stands have been installed throughout the city centre. Where possible signing has also been improved to indicate safe routes linking various public transport terminals, leisure sites, large employers and educational establishments. A pocket cycle map was produced and distributed via information centres, community forums, at sustainable transport events and through the Bikeabout scheme itself. Key findings Bikeabout users are fairly evenly split in terms of age, gender and journey purpose. 83% of scheme members rated the scheme as generally good or very good. Travel diaries indicated the average trip length was 2.7 miles (4.3 km) with 57% of the journeys being round trips. At peak times almost all of the bicycles were being used at any one time. 38% of the public were aware of the Bikeabout scheme and 66% generally agreed with it. 28% of members stated that they did not have access to another bicycle. Cycle parking surveys showed the peak number of cycles parking in Winchester increased by 46% during 2002-2005. This demonstrates that the potential benefits of the Bikeabout scheme are being realised, with some evidence that members are switching from travelling by car to Bikeabout bicycle.

Objectives - To develop and promote an environmentally based parking policy. - To reward drivers of cleaner vehicles, whilst discouraging gross-polluting vehicles from entering Winchester city centre. Rationale Winchester City Council (WCC) operates almost 3,000 city centre parking spaces, plus a 760-space Park and Ride (P+R) facility on the outskirts of the city. Winchester�s parking policy encourages commuter traffic to use the P+R sites, allowing tourists and shoppers access to city centre parking. Prior to the MIRACLES project, the majority of parking spaces were controlled via a pay and display system. In partnership with MIRACLES, WCC carried out a parking review in 2004, which considered all parking policies, including charges. As part of the review it was agreed that the take-up of environmentally friendly vehicles should be supported and encouraged, and that other (high-emission) vehicles should be encouraged to use P+R. Description of the implementation MIRACLES developed a pricing strategy that is push-pull in concept. In order to encourage greater use of P+R it recommended that the number of city centre long-stay spaces are reduced and prices should increase. At the same time prices at the P+R facility should remain low. This will provide the push element of the strategy, while still allowing parkers who are price-sensitive access to the city centre via P+R. The pull element of the strategy has been implemented through graduated price discounts, based on the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions of a vehicle. Eligible vehicles have been placed into categories based on CO2 emissions, defined by the United Kingdom�s Vehicle Excise Duty bands. In addition, electric or hybrid vehicles are eligible for free parking. Discounts on season tickets for long-stay car parks are currently available as follows: Tax band A (up to 100g/km CO2) - 75% discount Tax band B (101 to 120 g/km CO2) - 50% discount Battery Electric or Hybrid vehicles - 100% discount Discounts of 75% or 50% on an annual season ticket are worth as much as £893 or £595 respectively to a user. The free permit can be worth up to £1,190. The scheme was officially launched in September 2004 and has been incorporated within WCCs air quality action plan. It had been intended to also implement the scheme at the Pay on Foot car parks by using automotive number plate recognition technology to allow discounted tariffs to be assigned on an ad-hoc basis for non-season ticket holders. However technical and operational problems meant that this function could not be added to the system within the timescale of MIRACLES. An additional aspect of the project was to offer people renewing their city centre season tickets the option of trialling the P+R service for free, for two weeks. Detailed surveys were undertaken to gauge public opinion of the environmentally-linked pricing strategies and parking data was collected. Key findings Of the 359 vehicles issued with a season permit at participating car parks, 41 (11%) took up a discount as of March 2006. 51 city centre season ticket holders took up the two week trial of P+R. Of these 47 (92%) did not renew their city centre season ticket, implying that they continued to use P+R. During the project lifetime, ticket sales at the seven busiest city centre car parks decreased by 16%, whilst at P+R sales increased by 43%. Revenue at city centre car parks increased by 11%, due to general price increases and 6% at P+R due to the increased ticket sales. Awareness of the scheme in the target group was good, at 75%, with 58% agreeing with the scheme and 31% stating the discounts would encourage them to purchase a more environmentally friendly car in the future.

TMB, Barcelona's main bus operator realised trials with 70 CNG buses. The demonstration was realised in partnership with utility supplier Gas Natural. It involved the development of refuelling infrastructure and specialised maintenance workshops, as well as the acquisition of standrd 11m buses from MAN and IVECO. trials compared the CNG bus performance on hilly and flat routes in comparison with diesel buses that would be replaced if the trials suggested satisfactory operation.

Since many years ENEA is developping his own dynamic emission model and related software(TEE - Trasport,Energy and Environment)to calculate road traffic pollutant emissions from input data produced by traffic models. The ENEA's TEE model and software, already validated in other EU funded projects (i.e.JUPITER, ESTEEM,HESAID,HEAVEN)and recently become part of the ISHTAR model suite, was selected, together with a traffic model(TRANSCAD)and an atmospheric dispertion model(ADMS),and used by ATAC/STA for the mapping the air pollutant concentration levels within the Miracles labotatory area as needed to evaluate Miracles measures. To improve the calculation of the air pollutant emissions, the TEE model(as well as the other dynamic emission models),in addition to the standard data provided by the traffic models, requires traffic kinetics data,as speed profiles, which are collected by the so called "floating cars". The smaller fractions of the particulate matter (PM10, PM2,5 and PM1), which are the most harmful and dangerous for human health, are now considered as the most worrying air pollutant in Rome and PM10 concentration levels are still a big problem in many other italian cities. To increase and get more reliable the knowledge about the concentration levels of this critical pollutant, a special mobile laboratory (floating van) was equipped by ENEA and a field measuring programme was designed and implemented to collect data about the PM exposure levels along the PT routes and, in particular, to evaluate the impact of the introduction of a new electric bus line travelling along the Nomentana road in Rome. The ENEA's "floating van": The "floating van", used by ENEA for the above mentioned field measuring programme, is a mobile laboratory, equipped for the fine and ultrafine particulate matter (PM10,PM2.5 and PM1.0)detection, on which have been also installed the devices necessary for the measurement and the collection of traffic kinetic data. It can be used at the same time as floating car to provide the input data, as required by a dynamic emissions model (like TEE 2005, supplied by ENEA) to estimate the pollutante emission rates, and for monitoring the air pollutant concentration levels in a specific location. While the fixed monitoring stations are based on gravitometric methods, the equipment installed on the ENEA's "floating van" (GRIMM 1008) is based on the new laser scattering method. In order to take into account the atmospheric dispertion conditions and the pollutant emission background (i.e. domestic heating systems and industrial source), all PM concentration measures must referred to "standard" weather conditions (i.e. day hours, from 8 am to 6 pm, high atmospheric pressure and very low wind)and must be indexed by means of the local Radon emission index and of the corresponding PM10 concentration values, measured by the fixed monitoring stations. Conclusion and future plans The final results of the Miracles field measuring campaign showed the expected reduction,ranging from 8 to 12% in function of the different day hours,in the average PM concentration levels. The reduction in PM1.0 and PM2.5 concetration levels was larger than that in PM10 concentration, confirming that the smaller fractions of particulate matter are mainly those produced by road traffic. ENEA plans to use the "floating van", within national or EU future projects, to evaluate specific traffic measures, mainly in agreement with italian municipalities and local administrations; to improve the potentiality of the "floating van", it would be very useful to install a GPS device and new measuring equipment, based on gas chromatografy, for the detection of other harmful polluntants(i.e. NOx, Benzene, Ozone.etc.).

By implementing an on-line, wireless, multimodal, multi-lingual information system, PT services are quickly identifiable and the user can easily combine and integrate them for personalised journey planning. The integration of web technologies and increased PT services supply aims to provide added value to public transport services. The commitment of Atac S.p.A. in supplying user friendly tools for journey strategy, in this case is addressed to non-systematic users. It has been planned to extend the information on multi-modality already available, according to the following items: - New multilingual website and kiosks, to provide PRE TRIP information, to allow booking and multimodal ticketing to a large target of users; - The push/pull systems to supply mobility information through portable devices in order to enlarge the set of tools for users in their trip planning : - The Infopoint through WAP/PDA and - The Prototype of Infopoint through SMS/MMS. (Currently, supported platforms are Pocket PC, BlackBerry and Nokia mobile phone series 60 that cover a big part of total market). Implementations have been performed taking advantage of the following devices: - Mobile phones (sms/mms, WAP/UMTS) and Kiosks and to extend the multilingual web site specifically for the Infopoint information. For access to Info point service, by mobile phone (pc, mobile imode or Umts), type http://infopoint.atac.roma.it/wap/: in this way it will be possible to have the latest news on public transport in Rome or calculate the journey with public means.

Objectives To encourage they use of alternative fuel vehicles by businesses, by overcoming barriers to use and establishing a business case for clean vehicles. Rationale An Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) was declared for Winchester in November 2003, due to high concentrations of air pollutants in the city centre. To improve air quality in the city the MIRACLES project encouraged the take up of cleaner fuels and technology, and ran a campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of environmentally friendly vehicles. Description of the implementation Unfamiliarity with alternative fuel vehicle technology can create barriers to their purchase and use, and this measure aimed to overcome these barriers. Six alternative fuel vehicles were purchased by Hampshire County Council, these included: two hybrid petrol/electric cars, two dual-fuel LPG/petrol cars, and two battery electric vans. A scheme was implemented whereby local businesses were loaned one of the vehicles for up to one month, and the vehicles were extensively promoted through various media and at local events. The vehicles were also fitted with tracking units in order that route data could be analysed. Vehicle emissions savings were estimated using this data and this was compared to the corresponding emissions if the usual business vehicle had been used. Key Findings Prior to each trial businesses were asked which factors would influence their decision to purchase a clean vehicle. The three most important factors were operating costs, reliability and purchase cost. After the trial 82% rated the vehicle as generally good, 55% thought it was generally better than their usual fleet vehicle and 65% stated they were likely to purchase a clean vehicle in the future for business use. Businesses tend to renew their company vehicles at set times over cycles of several years. Therefore, the effect of the trial in encouraging businesses to purchase clean vehicles may not be evident for a number of years. However, one business and three employees did purchase alternative fuel vehicles following the trials. In all cases the trial had been a major influence. Emissions savings from the alternative fuel vehicles were estimated. For the petrol/hybrid vehicle, CO2 emissions reduced by an average of 40%, CO by 20% and HC+NOx by 70%. There were also energy reductions of 37%. For the LPG/petrol vehicles, average CO2, CO, and HC+NOx emissions reductions ranged from 9-18%, 30-78%, and 58-74%, respectively. The energy reduction was in the rage of 1-5%. The electric vehicles produced no tailpipe emissions, and therefore resulted in emission reductions of 100%. In terms of fuel cost per km petrol hybrid vehicles and LPG/petrol dual fuel vehicles provided average savings of about 40% and 20%, respectively. It should be emphasised that the analysis only compared usual business vehicles that were five years old or less, as no emission figures are available for older vehicles. If all vehicles had been included the emissions and fuel savings would have been greater.

University College Cork MIRACLES related publications / conference presentations: O'Cinneide, D. The Benefits of ITS for resolving Urban Transport Issues. Procs. Conference ITS - Realising the Potential, Department of Transport, National Roads Authority, Mansion House, Dublin. Nov 2002 Murphy, J. and D. O'Cinneide. Comprehensive Urban Transport Evaluation. 6th Asia-Pacific Transportation Development Conference, Transportation, Economic Development and the Environment - A Balanced System Strategy- Topic #3 Balancing the Needs for Mobility and the Environment. Hong Kong, May 2006 Murphy, J. and D. O'Cinneide. Evaluation of Urban Traffic Management. Urban Transport X11, WIT Press, Southampton, UK. 2006

The multi-operator AVM (Automatic Vehicle Monitoring) system has been installed on services operating in a corridor of metropolitan Barcelona. Upgrades (to GPRS communications) have improved the performance compared to the original digital radio trunking. Data exchange with TMB's AVM system is realised using SMS, such that information all bus services passing the bus stops is available for display. Agreement are made with 3 local authorities and variable message display panels are installed at 4 bus stops. Results are available concerning passenger volumes associated with the demonstration of the improved real-time bus arrival information at the 4 stops.

Objectives - To reduce the impact of traffic on the environment. - To reduce the number of poorly maintained vehicles in Winchester city centre, thereby reducing the level of emissions and pollution. Rationale Before MIRACLES the Winchester Movement and Access Plan successfully developed the Clear Zones initiative, to reduce emissions in the city centre. In September 2003, Winchester City Council (WCC) made a statutory declaration of an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) for the city centre, due to unacceptable levels of air pollution. An Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) was developed to address these issues. MIRACLES contributed significantly to the development of the AQAP, which incorporates many of the MIRACLES measures The Emissions Monitoring measure enabled gross-polluters to be directly targeted and strategies aimed at achieving emissions reductions developed. Description of the implementation Innovative equipment, originally developed under the EU REVEAL project, was procured from Golden River Traffic Limited and modified to include the monitoring of vehicle speed and acceleration and improve portability. This was interfaced with an automatic number plate recognition system and a mobile variable message sign to be used at the roadside, in order to identify and then inform individual polluters of their emissions,. Specific test sites were identified, according to best practice in the field of remote sensing. Vehicles were monitored as they entered Winchester along main arterial routes. Measurements were then compared with the United Kingdom s Vehicle Inspectorate MOT test standards to define a cut off point for gross polluters . A four stage enforcement strategy was designed to encourage voluntary maintenance of high polluting vehicles or to restrict them from the city centre AQMA: i) use of a mobile VMS at the roadside to inform drivers of the levels of their emissions, whether GOOD, FAIR or POOR; ii) use of a website based database to list emission readings from individual vehicles; iii) provide a subsidised emissions check and repair service to high polluting vehicles, and iv) instruct high polluting vehicles to use Park and Ride instead of travelling into the city centre. A final stage involving mandatory roadside emissions tests and the issuing of fixed penalty notices to owners of vehicles that failed, was also considered. This would use powers obtained by WCC under Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations. A database of vehicle information was built up from the readings and used to assess the likely impacts of the various enforcement strategies. Key findings The percentage of vehicles measured that could be classed as high polluters was very low (approximately 0.1% for CO, 0.4% for HC and 0.01% for NOx). With fewer high polluters than originally anticipated the intended practical evaluation of the feedback strategies was replaced with a detailed, stated preference survey and MIRACLES questionnaires. Results indicate that regular feedback to vehicle owners on their emissions would be welcomed: 80% agreed with the monitoring of vehicles to reduce pollution; 73% wished to be informed of the vehicle s emissions; 80% would have their vehicle s engine checked if VMS indicated the vehicle s emissions were POOR; 76% would be interested in a subsidy if their vehicle was suspected of having an emissions fault; 72% agreed that suspected high polluters should be encouraged to use Park and Ride; 13%-23% indicated that they would divert to Park and Ride if VMS indicated their vehicle s emissions were POOR, and; 60% would make use of a web-based emissions checking service once a month or less Links to vehicle records held by regional or national agencies would allow enrichment of the captured records with fuel type, age and emissions standard. This would enable a more targeted approach, allowing the owners of the identified high polluting vehicles to be contacted.

The aim of the Car Sharing service in Rome is to discourage the purchase of the second car per family by providing an alternative way of using the individual mean of transport. The service addresses in particular those who use their car for less than 10.000 km per year, affording garage, insurance and maintenance costs: the car sharing is a right solution to save money. The initial trial involved just 10 cars and 5 parking lots, and is available h 24. The service is partly outsourced, especially for what concerns the technologies for the management of the service (monitoring and subsctiptions) and the call centre activities. Awareness and promotional campaign towards citizens have to be foreseen while designing the project, as well as customer satisfaction analysis. First results in Rome: after one year and a half from the Service start up, 290 subscribers have been registered and more that 860 joining demands to the service have been submitted to ATAC. The results obtained from the experimentation phase of the project in Rome showed the relevance of the car sharing service within the sustainable mobility program. It also showed the primary importance of technology in the implementation of such a system. It should not only sell the service to the citizens, but also to the SME. Rome can provide know how on the implementation of such a service in a big city.

Recommendations to the Irish National Roads Authority that all traffic management schemes be evaluated using appropriate performance indicators and templates as developed in MIRACLES. Cork City Council to evaluate future traffic management measures.

It has been performed an environmental analysis of Traffic Demand Management Strategies (TDMS) with mapping of the air pollutant concentration levels, by means of an information technology system including simulation models, traffic-emission-dispersion model. This task performs: Step 1: Reconstruction and description of real-time traffic flows (5 ) and speed on the primary network for the whole Miracles Laboratory Area; Step 2: near real time description of traffic, pollutant emission and pollutant concentrations with grid maps on the Laboratory Area. An hourly description of emissions and concentrations of CO, Benzene and PM will be provided on the area with a detailed spatial resolution Step 3: Simulations on the expected benefits coming from MIRACLES TDMS both in transportation and environmental analysis. The scenario module has to provide the analysis of the expected benefits coming from MIRACLES TDMS on transport and environment. In fact the scenario module allows comparing traffic situation and atmospheric pollution before and post MIRACLE TDMS application allowing a quantitative analysis of impacts.

Pre-MIRACLES there were 8 cycle parking spaces for the general public in the entire city. By October 2005 264 had been provided (a 2000% increase) ( M9) Stands for a further 316 cycle parking spaces were purchased for installation in 2006. A cycling officer was also appointed post MIRACLES to further this work. This man has identified locations for more cycle stands and intends to order 100s of additional stands to continue the exponential increase in cycle stand provision that began with MIRACLES. Pre-MIRACLES provision for cyclists in Cork was scant. Much has been learnt since and Cork City Council would be keen to share it�s experience with other cities starting from a similar base or to learn more from more expert cities about what works and what doesn�t (causes more accidents etc.) Cycleways and cycleparking are relatively new concepts in Ireland- really only introduced in Cork in 1999. MIRACLES provided the forum and motivation to plan fro a more comprehensive network of cycling infrastructure- an idea not heretofor commonplace on the streets of Cork. In 2004 the Cork City Cycle Network and Parking Facilities Plan was approved by council. This lists recommendations for 19 radial routes, 13 link routes and 5 inner city routes. These have been implemented along 6 radial green routes into the city centre and plans for a leisure route along the Western City/County Border were discussed by the MIRACLES team. Critical success factors: - Consultation with cycling campaign groups- they often contain individuals who have devoted a lot of time and energy into researching cycling facilities and know from practical experience what works, what doesn t, where parking spaces are needed etc. - Seek submissions from the public about cycling facilities recommendations and give serious consideration to these. - The Sheffield Lock is generally the favoured style of stand design as most cyclists seek something sturdy to affix both wheels to. Retail owners may favour something more stylish and the stand depicted on www.corkcity.ie for St. Patrick s Street proved very popular, especially when retailers saw how well used they were. - A solid foundation is very important care should be taken when selecting stands to pay close heed to the footings.

The following papers, published in the web site www.spsonline.it: R. Carli, R. M. Paniccia, P. Cavalieri, Cultura Locale e civismo. Un indagine sul traffico realizzata con cittadini Romani, 2004. R. Carli, R. M. Paniccia, P. Cavalieri, La cultura locale del traffico a Roma. Un'indagine di customer satisfaction, 2005. R. Carli, R. M. Paniccia, P. Cavalieri, Local Culture and citizenship, in Rome. A Customer satisfaction survey, 2005.

Exploitable results

The Miracles project have implemented the following measures grouped according to the Civitas policy fields: - clean public and private fleets; - collective passenger transport; - integrated pricing strategies; - innovative soft measures; - access restriction; - new forms of vehicle use and ownership; - new concepts for the distribution of goods; - integration of transport management systems. The global impacts at city level of the measures implemented are reported below. 1) Economy In general, it was difficult to draw unequivocal conclusions because of the large number of Miracles measures and their different grades of implementation. In Rome, the objective was to assess operating / maintenance costs of the Miracles measures per capita, and a value of just less than EUR 1 per inhabitant was estimated. For many measures, the benefits increased as the scale of implementation grew. This was especially so for administrators who can save resources and increase incomes by enlarging the small-scale Miracles implementations. Conversely, the value of EUR 1 per person may represent a limit for the feasibility of further measures: any intervention more expensive than this could be assumed to be affordable only if it achieved added value. In Winchester, there was no evidence that the Miracles measures influenced the number of employees or accommodation bookings, although bus company revenues did increase. This was partly attributable to the Miracles improvements made to the quality and information of the services, but an increase in fare raises, frequency (of one service) and lower maintenance costs were also partly responsible. In Barcelona, patronage of the tramway doubled during the first 18 months of operation. In addition, the supermarket operator's investment in quieter vehicles and unloading methods achieved operational savings estimated to lead to an investment return within three years. Regarding the access restriction measure, it was considered that ANPR technology (if fully implemented) can reduce the maintenance costs associated with the traditional bollard technology. In Cork, it was considered that the Miracles measures definitely aided the city economy regarding business, tourism and travel, although any economic benefits were difficult to quantify in isolation from parallel projects such as the 'City of culture 2005' and 'Green routes' (quality bus corridors). Miracles acted as a catalyst for advancing the implementation of planned major city improvements such as the successful redesign of St Patrick's Street and the construction of the new 'park and ride' facility, and to promote inner city shopping and tourism. For instance, there were significant increases in the number of pedestrians using St. Patrick's Street and the numbers of tourists visiting Cork. 2) Energy It was again difficult to provide incontrovertible evidence that Miracles resulted in a city-wide energy reduction at any of the sites. In Rome, although fuel consumption decreased during the project time-scale, this was largely as a result of other parallel measures such as the general renewal of the private car fleet supported by national policies and by local emergency measures. Incentives were provided by the state for scrapping old cars and replacing them with new ones that were less polluting and more energy efficient. In Winchester, fuel sales from one filling station showed increases in the proportions of diesel and LPG sold, but LPG sales still only represented about 3% of total fuel sales. It seems that the public is still reluctant to purchase an LPG vehicle (or convert their existing vehicle). This may be because of the high conversion cost, but other potential factors may be perceived limitations with the technology, and the small number of petrol stations that currently sell the fuel. In Barcelona, an 18 % shift from car to tramway was estimated to represent annual savings of between 57,000 to 163,000 litres of fuel. Regarding the extension of the CNG bus fleet, the standard CNG buses consumed more energy than the diesel reference, but this was not so apparent when the articulated longer CNG buses were used. In Cork, the use of alternative fuels such as rapeseed oil was demonstrated to be feasible for Cork City Council. 7 % of the fleet were converted, and the council intends to continue using alternative fuels and expanding the clean fleet post-Miracles. Sustainable commuting was further encouraged through the other Miracles measures which promoted cycling, walking, 'park and ride' and car-pooling. 'Park and ride' was very successful while car pooling was not; it was found that people preferred to organise private car sharing arrangements. 3) Environment In Rome, the environmental objectives were to improve air quality, reduce noise levels in the city centre, reduce the number of polluting vehicles, and reduce vehicle emissions. All goals were considered to have been met. For instance, CO emissions reduced by about 76 %, particulates and C6H6 emissions by 38 %, and the numbers of non-catalysed vehicles by about 40 %. Although this was partly attributable to a renewal in the circulating private car fleet, it was considered that the whole package of Miracles measures also had some effect. Of particular relevance was the access restriction measure, which permitted only clean, catalysed private vehicles to enter the central areas, along with enforcement of the extension of the yearly inspection of vehicle emissions and of compulsory servicing of motorcycles and mopeds. In addition, the purchase of about 1000 clean buses contributed to the improved environmental conditions. It was recommended that for even greater benefits, all the wide-implementation measures need to be even more widely applied, both in terms of enlarging the implementation area and in improving the relevant control and enforcement procedures. In Winchester, air pollution levels are greatly affected by weather conditions, which meant that any reductions due to Miracles were very difficult to measure. The city centre has a problem with the levels of NOx, and it is likely that this could be improved if the number of high-polluting vehicles entering the city centre was reduced. There was no evidence that the Miracles measures changed people's perceived views regarding air quality or road traffic noise in Winchester city centre during the period of the project, but as a result of the project they are more aware of the issues involved. In Barcelona, substantial reductions in pollutant emissions were reported for the CNG bus fleet, and their quieter performance was highly valued. The Rambla access control implementation was calculated to reduce pedestrian delays (when crossing the vehicle traffic) by 15 hours per day. In Cork, the traffic levels through the access-restricted zone reduced by 3 %. The combination of the 'clean zone', 'park and ride' service, increase in cycle facilities (from 8 to 316 cycle stands) in the city centre and awareness raising activities of sustainable transport all aided in the improvement of the city environment. Public perception of air and noise pollution in the city centre also improved, which should make the city centre safer and more attractive to pedestrians thereby promoting inner city shopping and tourism. 3) Society An objective of all the cities was to increase awareness of the Miracles measures and support for sustainable transport in general. This objective was met: for instance, all cities reported significant increases in awareness of the Miracles and Civitas logos (as reported within the relevant measure level templates), although the numbers were still relatively small (typically 15-20 % of the ex-post survey sample). There were higher levels of awareness of the individual measures. For example, in Cork, the number of respondents aware of one, two, or three Miracles measures, was 28 %, 30 % and 19 %, respectively. In general, the public were very satisfied with the Miracles measures as evidenced by the high level of satisfaction expressed in the specific measure surveys. However, it is important to note that awareness and (stated preference) acceptance of an initiative does not necessarily influence travel behaviour. There is a huge difference between accepting the objectives of an initiative and for that individual then prepared to change travel behaviour as a result. For instance, in Winchester, 71 % of the public supported the broad objective of Miracles to promote and influence travel by sustainable transport, but only about 25 % used a mode of sustainable transport on a daily basis. There was also evidence from parallel initiatives (e.g. the Winchester movement and access plan, which has been ongoing since 1995) that awareness of sustainable transport issues should increase still further in the longer term. In Winchester, there was little evidence that the Miracles measures had affected broad transport issues such as ease of access to city centre or road safety (for non-car modes). In addition, broader societal issues such as public perception of security or crime rates / types in the city centre were not influenced by Miracles. Diverse methods were employed to promote sustainable transport options including demonstration days, cycle safety training, advertisements, competitions, leaflets, posters, website promotion etc... It was generally found that a mixture of methods was best at reaching a range of different audiences. For instance, in Cork, advertising and a prolonged media campaign for many measures (particularly park and ride) along with the integration of Miracles with existing sustainable transport promoting activities increased awareness and acceptance. In Winchester, there was some indication that events such as demonstration days with a high visual presence resulted in the highest levels of awareness. Cork reported that the Miracles measures encouraged a modal shift from the car through traffic and lane restrictions in the city centre, park and ride provision, cycle facilities, publicity campaigns, etc.. In Winchester, compared to the baseline survey, a significantly higher proportion of respondents in the ex-post survey rated it easy to travel to Winchester city centre using the park and ride service. In Rome, the survey respondents were grouped into five clusters of citizens regarding their perception of the mobility situation. These clusters were control, confidence, mistrust, anarchy and efficiency. The proportion of ex-post citizens within the 'control' category reduced significantly from the baseline sample, while the proportion of people within the 'anarchy' cluster increased. This was attributed to the introduction of the 'non-popular' measures such as paying for car parking. Indeed, a main finding from the before and after data comparison was that the most successful measures were those which benefited everyone (e.g. the use of public transport or telematics), and do not limit an individual's personal freedom and ability to use private cars. Indeed, it was recommended that the more restrictive a measure, the greater the communication required by the stakeholder to promote the potential benefits of sustainability and over-ride the traditionally strong car-based culture of Rome. A future issue to consider is whether the approach taken to discourage the use of private cars at a political level should be based on restrictions, as currently applied, or in supporting more popular incentives to attract passengers to transit. Of the Barcelona implemented measures, the CNG bus was rated the highest and the tramway the lowest (possibly because the city-wide survey was undertaken at a time when the tramway was still under construction). 4) Transport The Miracles measures had negligible transport impacts at the city-wide level. For instance, in Winchester, although was a significant reduction of 16 % at Bar End / Chesil Street due to the opening of the extended park and ride, the overall traffic flows were not significantly reduced on the arterial roads. In addition, journey speeds along five arterial roads did not change appreciably during the project time-scale. There was an encouraging significant reduction of 10 % in the number of ex-post residents stating that they used their car for their daily commute to the city centre. The results again generally imply that although the public are aware and accept the Miracles measures, this does not necessarily translate into positive impacts on the transport network. However, it should be borne in mind that, for many of the measures, the demonstration period was relatively short, and quantifiable transport impacts may only become apparent in the longer term. Traffic flow within the Rome LTZ (during periods of free access) reduced by 25 % during 2001-05. There were also safety benefits in Rome, with the accident fatality rate reduced by almost 50 %. In Cork, the reduction in lane capacity of St. Patrick's Street from four to two lanes and the expansion of the clean zone aided in creating a safer environment for vulnerable road users and pedestrians, although the modal split will not be available until the 2006 Census information is published. However, the number of pedestrians in the clean zone increased (by 53 % compared to the baseline), as did the number of cyclists (by 47 % across the inner cordon), and so it is anticipated that there will be some alteration in modal split. In Winchester, the number of cycles parked in the city centre increased by 46 % during Miracles, but cycle flows on the arterials decreased by 12 %. In Rome, data from the rail ring area (where all the measures were implemented) showed that there had been a decrease of 5 % in use of private cars, with a 3 % increase in walking and a 1 % increase in public transport. This effect was mainly attributed to the access restriction measure, although other 'niche' measures also contributed. Encouragingly, compared to the baseline results, Winchester residents among the ex-post questionnaire survey respondents were significantly more likely to state that they walked or cycled to the city centre, and less likely to travel by car. In Cork, City Council employees changed towards more sustainable modes of transport during the course of Miracles, but it proved difficult to persuade people to participate in the car pooling scheme, and parking restrictions were found to be far more effective. Other cities wishing to promote sustainable mobility management should place a heavy emphasis on promoting sustainable mobility before and during the establishment of formal schemes to support sustainable commuting. These campaigns should be highly visible and use a variety of media. It is important to emphasise the environmental, social and financial benefits of switching to more sustainable modes of transport. In both Cork and Winchester, the Park and Ride services were regarded as being very effective. In Cork, it was originally planned to provide 450 spaces at the Blackash Park and Ride, but in fact more than 900 spaces were provided. By November 2005, there were an average of 500 users per day, and this more than doubled during the pre-Christmas period. Public satisfaction levels with the Park and Ride service were very high: 82 % rated the service as very good, and the remaining 18 % rated it as good or satisfactory. In Winchester, the extension of the St Catherine's Park and Ride car park by 420 spaces enabled ticket sales to increase by 43 % during the lifetime of Miracles. One contributory factor was the associated parking charging policy, which also helped to deter city centre parking. Bus passenger satisfaction ratings increased by 4 % during the Miracles time-scale, and bus punctuality in the Winchester fleet improved. In Rome, the achievements that could be regarded as being the most successful (e.g. the reduction of private traffic flows and the increased space for pedestrians in the LTZ) mainly involved restrictive measures. However, this assessment was affected by the large scale implementation of measures and additional time is required to really assess the benefits of new forms of transit or use of telematics on the transport pattern. Such a requirement is also shared by the so-called 'niche' measures, which were demonstrated successfully during the Miracles period and hence their implementation can be expanded, both in terms of area and in operating times. In Barcelona, the Traverssera de Gracia multi-use lane demonstrated peak bus priority, improved off-peak unloading and better traffic circulation, and there were indications that the provision of real-time information at bus stops helped to increase the number of passengers. Of the surveyed tramway passengers, 53 % cited the higher speed as their main reason for using the tramway (followed by features of accessibility).

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