The need to reduce climate emissions is an increasing driver to make change that reduces vehicle emissions in cities. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that more urban space is needed for people. Other reasons to regulate vehicle access include pollution-related deaths, the costs associated with congestion and the possibility to improve quality of life by converting road space into recreation or commercial space. Urban space allocation is also a question of equity; people with low incomes often have no car, which means the vulnerable in society subsidise the road space use of those who drive.
While national policies can improve the general conditions for lower-emitting options, urban vehicle access regulations can help facilitate faster change in urban areas. But despite urgent calls for smarter urban vehicle access regulations in the Urban Mobility Package and other political commitments, few decision makers have been keen on the idea of restricting car access in urban areas. Because “stick” measures such as UVARs are much less popular than “carrot” measures, it’s important for each city to find ways to combine carrots and sticks, as well as an approach and complementary measures that fit its local context.
Well-chosen UVARs can address several challenges, including climate emissions, air and noise pollution, quality of life, safety and/or congestion. ReVeAL systematises the process by classifying, structuring and describing UVAR measures to make them understandable to a wide range of stakeholders and by providing implementation guidance.
Overall objectives:
The goal of the EU Horizon 2020 project ReVeAL has been to support cities by:
1. identifying and analysing good practice UVAR examples to understand what has worked and why,
2. carrying out UVARs and extracting, synthesising and generalising the lessons learned from the process through documentation, monitoring and evaluation,
3. taking into account user needs and public acceptance and ensuring that equity is not compromised with the changes made,
4. structuring the UVAR development process and developing guidance to give other cities the tools they need to develop packages of UVAR measures that are both appropriate to their local context and future ready.
ReVeAL’s overall objective is to add UVARs to the standard range of urban mobility approaches across Europe and beyond.
